Second Chance
by KrissaBelle7
Summary: AU. Seems our detective has been keeping a secret all these years. Watch what happens when Castle finds out Beckett has a daughter and how they move on from there. Caskett. *NOW COMPLETE* R&R :)
1. Chapter 1

(13th April 2013) A/N: So elishevah has gone ahead and translated this fic into French with my permission. Here's the link if you guys want it :) fanfiction DOT net /s/9195899/1/Deuxième-Chance

**Disclaimer: Don't belong to me :(**

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**Prologue**

The ringing of the cell phone startled Castle who was busy trying to make a new high score in one of his games. "So close!" he muttered disappointedly while his partner gave him a wry smile and answered her phone. That's it, enough for now. Glancing over to his partner who seemed to be frowning and consulting her calendar, Rick Castle quit his application with a press of his thumb. Wait, why was Beckett referring to her calendar?

As far as he knew, Kate didn't have anything on. The case was closed, there were no body drops (so far), and Kate was busy with paperwork.

"Yes, I am. Oh, what happened now? How is she?"

Castle looked at her quizzically. Didn't sound like a new body. Personal call, maybe? His musings during the lull in the conversation on her part was cut off when she began speaking into her phone again.

"No, no, Jim's left already. Alright, I'll be there in thirty minutes. Thanks, bye."

Jim? What has Papa Beckett have to do with this? And so it _was_ something personal then. "Going somewhere?"

"Yeah, it's a personal thing. Gotta go talk to the captain," Kate replied as she glanced at her report while standing. Hmm, she was almost done with that particular report. That was good. With that, Kate strode purposefully into the captain's office.

A few minutes later Kate was out of the office and back at her place. "Everything alright?" Castle asked.

"Yeah, I just need to finish this report then I'm heading out for the day. You're free to go if you want."

Giving him a quick smile, Kate turned back to her report, skimming for a few seconds to refresh her mind on her previous progress, before writing away furiously. Wow, it seemed like she was in a real hurry to finish up and get out of the bullpen.

"Okay, in that case I'll head out now and grab a few things Alexis has been bugging me to buy. Give me a text if you need anything, alright? Anything at all," Castle told her as he picked up his jacket hanging on the back of his seat.

"Thanks, Castle," she replied, lifting her head for a brief moment and giving him another smile. Castle noticed the distracted glaze was still in her eyes though. Oh well. He'd just text her later in the day and check in on how she was doing. With that, Castle nodded to the boys, telling them, "Have fun with paperwork. I'm going off for the day."

Not five minutes later, Kate Beckett was done with her report and sent it in. She cleared her desk and was breezing out of the precinct doors before she could get another call.

It was two hours later when her phone rang again. "Detective, are you home? What're you up to?"

"Hey Castle. Yeah, I am, but err, now's not really a good time. Can I text you later?"

There it was again, distraction lacing her voice. Even though Castle couldn't see her face, four years of tagging along was enough for him to be able to imagine what her face would be like.

She'd have that small crease on her forehead between her eyebrows; her hair was probably messy from the countless times she ran her hand through it. He was about to concede and hang up when he heard it. In the background – it was faint, but he was pretty sure of what he had heard. Was that a child _crying_?

"Beckett, do you have a kid there with you?" he asked, amusement lacing his voice. Big, tough detective had no problems chasing and pinning down suspects in her four-inch heels but brought down by a kid? It was always the little things. He continued, "Look, I'm really good with kids. I'll be over at your place in twenty."

Kate stared at her phone, flabbergasted. He just informed her that he'd be over in twenty and hung up. Didn't she have a say in this? He just _informed_ her. What was he thinking, taking liberties and inviting himself over. Oh this was bad. But, Kate would deal with that later. At the moment, she had a five year old who was throwing a tantrum to deal with.

True to his word, Castle was knocking on her door twenty minutes later. "Hi," he greeted when she opened the door, a great big beaming smile plastered on his face. "You can't just pop over like that, Castle," she told him. His smile faltered for a moment.

He thought she'd be thrilled to have him over helping her. He was really good with children, and Kate knew that. She was frustrated and annoyed at him, as usual, but there was something more. Castle had to take a beat to look past her façade to notice it. Was Kate Beckett actually sulking a little as well?

Confused, Castle asked, "Kate, is everything fine? Look, I'm just trying to help you out here." Kate gave him a _look_. Grinning at her, he continued, "Besides, I gave you a heads up twenty minutes ago."

Kate turned her head to check on whoever it was in her apartment. Looking back to Castle, she rolled her eyes and told him, "I'm almost desperate enough anyway. But Castle, don't judge, and no questions until later alright."

She bit her lip hesitantly, before adding, "And you're sworn to secrecy until I tell you so. Or else you can just leave now."

Tilting his head, he told her, "Now you've got me all curious, Detective. Scouts honor. _Now_ are you going to let me in?"

Sighing dejectedly, Kate stepped back and swung the door open, inviting Castle into her apartment. Closing the door behind him, she led him to her living room, which seemed to be turned into a sleepover land? Kate's sofa bed was pulled out so it was converted into a bed and there were pillows and blankets laid out. It reminded Castle of the slumber parties Alexis used to have with her friends.

Amidst the fluffy comforters was a small girl with light brown hair. Her back was facing him so that was all Castle could see. Kate sat down next to her, inviting Castle to follow her. Smoothing a hand over the girl's head, Kate told her, "Arri baby, can you say hi to Mr. Castle? He's someone I work with."

The little girl swiveled her head to look at Castle and he sucked in a breath. Her wispy brown locks framed her face as her pale pink lips broke apart to murmur a soft "Hi Mr. Castle" before burrowing her head into Kate. But what caught his breath were the shockingly green eyes that had stared at him. Eyes that he'd been studying for the past four years.

She was like a replica of Beckett. With the exception of light brown hair and greener eyes, sure, but the rest of her features just screamed _Beckett_. From her dainty little nose to her cheekbones and that pink little mouth in a slight pout. Her cheeks were slightly pink, most probably a lingering remnant from crying earlier. She was a perfect clone of Beckett, with the exception of being much younger. Much, much younger, but she was still a mini Beckett through and through.

Kate pressed a kiss onto the top of her head, before turning to Castle and finishing the introduction. "Castle, this is my daughter, Arriana."

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A/N: Thoughts? The only way I'd know yours would be if you reviewed ;)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for all your support. Just to clear things up, this is set sometime in season 4-5 but the whole Cole Maddox thing didn't happen. And Caskett are just Castle and Beckett, i.e. they're not together. For now ;p Oh and updates will be weekly, unless something comes up.

Disclaimer: Don't belong to me!

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Chapter One

Castle immediately gave a charmingly disarming smile to the little girl who was peeking up from her place with Kate. Most of her face was hidden but a pair of curious eyes were peering at him past her bangs. "Hi Arriana, it's very nice to meet you."

She gave him a small smile before burrowing her face back into Kate's sides. "She's pretty shy around strangers," Kate explained. "Okay Arri, remember our deal? It's been half an hour already and mommy needs to take your temperature then it's nap time for you alright."

Arriana nodded her head feebly as Kate asked Castle, "Could you please get the thermometer for me? It's on the counter by the kitchen."

Castle nodded and rose to get the thermometer where Kate said it would be. He remained quiet as Kate took her daughter's temperature, still rendered into momentary speechlessness by the bomb Kate had dropped minutes ago.

"Baby girl, your temperature is still rising. You've definitely got a fever now, so you have to eat the medicine okay?"

The little girl remained silent by Kate's side. "Mommy kept her deal by waiting a half hour and giving you a chance to fight the fever but now you have to keep up your part of the deal ok? The fever is winning and your body isn't strong enough anymore so you have to take some medicine alright?"

Arriana kept quiet as her mother stood up and then picked her up before carrying her to the kitchen and setting her down on the chair. Castle followed wordlessly and hung back as Kate took out Tylenol from one of the cabinets.

Caste could see the Arriana's lower lip trembling and tears beginning to collect at her eyes. Kate poured some juice into a plastic cup before walking over to her daughter with the Tylenol and a spoon in hand.

"No, mommy, please. I don't like it, please mommy," she begged, tears spilling down her face. Castle's heart twisted as he thought back to Alexis begging him in the exact same manner when she was a kid. He could see Kate struggling internally.

"Come on, baby girl, It's just a little medicine. And look, mommy's even prepared some orange juice, ready to wash away the taste," Kate tried reasoning.

"No, no, no! No! NO!" she was crying earnestly now, her face turning red as she twisted her head from side to side. Sighing, Kate looked over to Castle. "Could you give me a hand holding her?"

He nodded, with a grim look on his face. He understood how Kate was feeling. He, too, used to dread when Alexis was sick and had to be force fed medicine. As Kate brought the spoon of Tylenol closer to Arriana, she began squirming and fighting even harder.

In her fit, she accidentally knocked over the cup of juice. Kate sighed as she picked up the cup and went to refill it once more. "I be a good girl, mommy. I'm sorry, please just no medicine mommy. Mommy please," Arriana hiccupped through her tears.

Kate opened her mouth to reply, but Castle stood and put a hand on her arm, halting her. He asked, "Can I try?" Kate silently nodded and switched places with Castle. He knelt on the ground and looked up at Arriana. "Hey Arriana, you wanna be a good girl, right? You need to take your medicine to be a good girl. Look, your mommy even has juice ready for you.

"After you drink the juice, you wont even taste the medicine. And tell you what, I have here a little secret that mommy doesn't know about."

He put his hand into his pocket, as Arriana momentarily stops crying, curious at what he has. She sniffles softly as Castle took out a small pack of gummy bears from his pocket. Kate bit back a smile, but Castle wasn't done yet.

"You see, these aren't normal gummy bears. They're special gummy bears. They help little boys and girls like you to fight bacteria that make you feel bad. But, they cannot start fighting the bacteria until there's some medicine to help them."

By now, Arriana was only sniffling sporadically as her big round eyes focused on Castle in wonderment. "Do you want to get better?" Castle asked her. Pursing her lips, Arriana nodded her head slowly.

"Well, we have to say the magic words to help the gummy bears wake up okay? But once we say the magic words, you must quickly take your medicine and orange juice so you can eat the gummy bears and they can help fight the bacteria.

"Otherwise, they'll wake up and then run away to help other boys and girls who have already taken their medicine. Okay, Arriana?"

She stares at him and then at the gummy bears. Finally she gave a small nod. Turning, she said, "Mommy I ready for medicine now. I still don't like it but I don't want no gummy bear running away."

Smiling, Kate poured the medicine out as Castle teaches Arriana the "magic words to wake the gummy bears". Before Arriana had a chance to change her mind, Kate fed her the Tylenol and gave her the juice to wash it down. Then, Castle gave her two gummy bears to eat.

"Mommy's gotta clean up in here okay? Say thank you to Mr. Castle for his magic gummy bears and go get ready for your nap." Arriana hopped down from the chair and told him "Thank you Mr. Castle" before continuing to chew on her magic gummies and walking back to the living room.

Kate dumped the things in the basin before cleaning up the spilled orange juice with a cloth. "Thanks, Castle. You're really great with kids, even those who are cranky and irritable from a fever. I'm… I'm really grateful you're here."

"Hey, no prob. That's what partners do," he told her casually with a smile. When Kate was done cleaning up, they returned to the living room together. Arriana had already fallen asleep from her exhaustion. The fever and all the crying must have really taken a lot from her energy. Kate rearranged the pillows around her before gesturing for Castle to sit on the couch.

"Do you want anything to drink?" she asked, belatedly remembering her manners as hostess. "No, thanks, I'm good."

"So," Kate dragged out the word as she settled to sit next to him. "You must have a billion and one questions for me. After what you did with Arriana, ask away. You get an all access pass."

"Arriana's a beautiful little girl. She looks just like you," he started out feebly, still treading on neutral grounds. "So…" Castle trailed off.

He didn't know what to ask. Kate was right, he _had _a billion and one questions for her but where to start? What was the guideline when it came to finding out your muse and partner who you had been tagging along with for almost four years had a secret daughter you never knew about?

"How old is she?" he tried asking. There. That was a pretty safe question, right?

"She's turning five soon."

Kate owed him enough to give him more. After a silent lull, she offered, "I got her when I was still in vice. It was in another part of town, nowhere near the twelfth. Her father was one of my informants and it was a no strings attached thing.

"But then I got pregnant. It wasn't supposed to happen, but it did anyway. Her… father found out. But before we could sit down and talk it out, someone tried to kill me, and her father got shot instead. I quit vice the very next day and took one and a half years off. Nobody knew I was pregnant. Everyone just thought I needed some time off because of my near death miss.

"After my time off, I transferred and started with homicide in the twelfth. No one knew about Arriana, except Montgomery. So I worked hard and moved up through the twelfth and you began to shadow me," she finished off lamely.

"Wow. I'm sorry about her father," Castle told her. "But, how did you manage to keep it away from everyone, the boys, Lanie, and I all these years?

"Well Arriana was already one when I returned to the task force. She had me, my dad, and daycare for two years. I got her into preschool after that. She mostly stayed at my dad's and I'd stay there too, coming back to my place a few nights a week with her whenever I could.

"But now that she's in kindergarten, I've brought her back to stay with me. I drop her off in the morning before heading to the precinct, and then she stays in their daycare until the evening. I try to pick her up as often as I can but mostly my dad still helps me out when we're swamped with cases.

"I've been making an extra effort to cut back my hours to spend more time with her. She grows so quickly," Kate said with a reminiscent tone.

"Kids do that," Castle agreed, "It seems like only yesterday Alexis was as little as Arriana there." Comfortable silence enveloped the room for a few minutes before Castle broke it. "So today..?"

"Oh, the kindergarten called. One of the kids got chicken pox and it seems a few of the kids caught it as well so the kindergarten is closed for a week. It seems Arriana caught it as well though. My dad left on a fishing trip today so I had to go instead. Gates let me take the rest of the day off when I told her it was a family emergency.

"But now that Arriana most probably caught the chicken pox as well I've got to take more time off. Luckily I've still got vacation days, but I don't know how Gates would take to that. I don't know if I should tell her about it, I mean, it's been my secret for so long."

"Well I'm here to help you with anything. Alexis had the chicken pox when she was six and the poor girl was so miserable. It's hard enough taking care of a sick child, but the chicken pox makes them itchy all over and twice as hard to care for. So if you need any help at all, I'm here," Castle offered.

"I've got a few great tips – " he elaborated, but was cut off by Kate

"Like your magical gummies?"

He looked over and found her grinning so he grinned back, " – yes, _just_ like my magical gummies. But I can help you out with Arriana too, or even help you pick up food if you're too busy. Anything at all, just ask and I'll try to help you, okay? Don't be shy to take me up on my offer."

A smile split through as Kate thought of his sweetness. "Will do. Thanks so much, Castle. So what did you do after leaving the precinct today?"

They chatted for a bit more before Kate checked on Arriana's fever. Satisfied that the fever seemed to be receding, Kate and Rick settled down near the little sleeping form as they continued talking about their daughters. Every so often Kate would brush some hair on the top of Arriana's head.

"It's getting late. Do you have somewhere to be or would you like to join us for dinner? I'll probably just cook some pasta," Kate offered. "I'm free, actually. Why don't I help you out with dinner."

Smiling at Castle, she bent down to place a kiss on her daughter's forehead before getting up. She seemed to be smiling at him a lot today. Being around her daughter must've mellowed her out, Castle mused. He let out a small smile as he followed her into the kitchen.

This was a whole new side of Beckett that he's never seen before. Heck, it was a whole new side of Beckett that no one else at the precinct had ever seen. Castle was still grinning at the little secret that only he knew and that was how Kate caught him when she turned around.

"I was thi–" she broke of, expression turning wary, "Castle why are you grinning like that? Care to share with the class?"

"I like you this way. It's nice to see a side of you that no one else in the precinct knows of. It's rather refreshing, actually," Castle explained, the grin still on his face. Kate rolled her eyes with a shake of her head.

They quickly settled into the kitchen as Kate instructed Castle what to do. It was an utterly domestic sight, with Castle minding the spaghetti and Kate chopping up ingredients for the sauce.

Their soft bantering was interrupted by a soft "Mommy?" as a sleepy little girl appeared in the kitchen. "Mind this for a bit, will you?" she told him as she put the big spoon down and went over to hug her little girl. "Hi Arri, how are you feeling?" she asked as she felt her daughter's forehead to see if the fever was still there.

"Feeling better, baby girl? Mommy's cooking spaghetti with your favorite mushroom and cream sauce. Would you like that, hmm?" she continued asking as she picked up her little girl and carried her over so she could see the sauce Castle was minding.

"Mmhmm," Arriana replied sleepily as her head dropped to rest at the crook near Kate's neck and a hand went around to play with the hair at the base of her mother's neck. "Castle could you turn off the stove and bring the things over to the table? I'll set up the dinner table."

After getting his acknowledgement, Kate headed toward the dining table, all the while murmuring softly to her little girl. She put the girl into her seat before grabbing three plates and some cutlery. Meanwhile, Castle was bringing the things over as instructed. After pouring a glass of water for Arriana, Kate asked him "Wine?" to which he nodded in compliance.

She brought the glasses of wine over and they started eating dinner, Kate helping Arriana occasionally. When they were done, she told Arriana, "Why don't you bring Mr. Castle into the living room? I'll be there shortly, sweetie."

Kate quickly cleared the dining table and was met by a sight of Castle talking animatedly to her daughter on the couch. Seeing her, Castle stood up and told her, "It's getting late. I should probably go. The both of you should get some rest. Thanks for dinner, Beckett. It was delicious."

"Sure Castle. I'll walk you out." Kate then turned to her daughter, saying, "Tell Mr. Castle goodbye and thank him for the gummies." "Oh Beckett, if you don't mind, I told Arriana she could call me Uncle Rick, instead."

Giving a small shrug, Kate looked back to her daughter who said softly, "Thank you for the gummy, Uncle Rick. Bye bye." He said his goodbyes to the little girl before walking over to the door with Beckett.

"Thanks so much, Castle, for helping out with her medicine earlier and everything. I really appreciate it."

"The pleasure's all mine, detective. Text or call me if you need anything alright. Good night, Beckett."

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A/N: Thoughts? Go ahead and click on the review button :)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Still don't belong to me...

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Chapter Two

Kate Beckett's body clock woke her up promptly at five in the morning. Opening her eyes, she saw the still form of her daughter stretched out next to her. Red spots had begun appearing at her hands and feet the previous night. Brushing aside Arriana's hair, Kate saw that her neck and face had developed some spots as well overnight. It was official. Arriana had caught a case of the chicken pox.

As she was brushing her teeth, Kate pondered about all that had happened the previous day. Castle knew about her daughter. Wow. She wondered how he was absorbing the news.

She called Captain Gates the previous evening and managed to get the next two days off. Kate would've liked to extend it longer but the Captain couldn't spare her on such short notice. Besides, Kate didn't exactly manage to fill Gates in on her daughter. It didn't really feel like an over-the-phone kind of conversation. Besides, if Gates knew about Arriana, it was only a matter of time before the rest of the precinct found out.

In that case, she might as well inform Lanie and the boys before they found out through other people. Kate unconsciously winced. Lanie would not take well to finding out Kate had kept such a huge secret from her for so many years.

Just as she was done freshening up, her cell phone vibrated, indicating she had a new text message. Kate saw the screen light up from the corner of her eye and she walked over to pick it up.

_Good morning detective. I take it you're not coming in today? How's Arriana doing?_

Kate let out a small smile. Trust Castle to keep tabs on her even when she was on leave.

_Morning Castle. Took the next two days off. Arriana def. caught the chicken pox. Calamine lotion seems to help for now._

Pocketing her cell phone, Kate headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Since Kate didn't cook as often as she'd like, she belatedly realized she was running low on many things. Better head out soon to get groceries since she'd be cooking over the next few days. But for now, Kate had enough ingredients to make pancakes.

It wasn't long before her phone buzzed again. It was another text from Castle.

_You should give her an oatmeal bath. Helps with the itch. Need my help for anything? I don't have any plans for the day since my fav. Det. seems to be playing hookie today._

_Actually, could you come over for a bit in the afternoon? I kinda need to run to the grocery store but can't leave Arri home alone. Mind watching her for a bit?_

Kate had barely put down her phone when Castle's next text came in.

_Sure thing. When do you want me to come?_

_See you around one? _

_Sure. I'll bring lunch. See you later Becks._

Reading his text, Kate felt a twinge of guilt. Sure, he offered, and she surprisingly took him up, but she wasn't expecting him to bring food along as well. Maybe she'll bake a batch of brownies for him to take home, as a symbol of her gratitude.

She added oatmeal and ingredients for the brownie to her grocery list before transferring the pancake batter into a squeeze bottle as she waited for the stove to heat up. She liked making star and squiggle shaped pancakes for Arriana. She made a few stars, some squiggles, and an A for Arriana. Then, she used the rest of the batter to make normal round pancakes for herself.

She heard sounds coming from the bathroom. Arriana must be up and washing her face then. Her timing could not have been any better. Kate stacked the very last pancake and finished arranging Arriana's plate of pancake as the little girl emerged into the kitchen.

She was rubbing her arm and neck but smiled and gave Kate a good morning kiss as she saw the assortment of pancakes. "Morning baby girl. How are you feeling? Still a little itchy?" she asked as she rubbed Arriana's back.

"Okay, lets eat our pancakes and mommy will bring you for a bath and put some lotion to make you more comfortable alright?"

Saying so, Kate helped Arriana into her chair properly and they began eating pancakes with a helpful drizzle of maple syrup. When they were done, Kate brought Arriana for an oatmeal bath like Castle had suggested. The little girl giggled as her mommy rubbed the oatmeal against her skin and washed out her hair.

After getting slathered by a large amount of calamine lotion, Arriana was finally cleared to go to the living room and do some coloring as Kate tidied up her apartment.

Castle arrived at one with Chinese takeout and a bright smile on his face. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll transfer these to plates. Arriana is in the living room with her books."

"Sorry Kate, playtime trumps kitchen anytime. Unless it's playtime in the kitchen," he said with a wink. Kate rolled her eyes. There was the Castle she knew, always the nine year old on a sugar rush. With a side of inappropriateness, of course. But then again she was thankful for his playful banter.

He was rather quiet and toned down the day before, but that was understandable considering she had just told him her biggest secret ever. Now that he's had a day to process things, it was nice to know that Castle still treated her the same way he always had.

Going back to the living room, she told them, "Come on kids, lunch is ready." Kate laughed as Castle swooped up his daughter in his arms and started making airplane noises as he "flew" her to the dining area. Arriana shrieked delightedly in his arms and was still giggling when he settled her into the chair.

"Thanks for keeping her mind off the i-t-c-h. She's gotten too big for me to fly her around about a year ago," Kate reminisced.

"Well lucky for you to have a big strong man around to do that. Are you teaching your girl codes or something? 'Cos I couldn't help but notice that some of her books out there weren't in English. Starting young, eh?"

"Oh, since Arriana knows her ABCs and is beginning to learn some simple words I figured I'd teach her Russian alphabets since we speak a little Russian anyway," Kate explained. "That is so cool! You learnt from your year in Kiev, right? Could you please say something in Russian?"

To his surprise, it wasn't Kate who uttered the Russian word, but the girl between them who spoke up. "Droog!" Arriana exclaimed as she lifted her cutlery in the air. Kate laughed as Castle watched her in wonder. "What did she say?! Wait, don't tell me. Let me guess. Food? Zombies? Spy? I know, Apple!" he said animatedly. At each of his guesses both Kate and Arriana kept laughing.

"He's so silly, isn't he? Tell him what you said," Kate coaxed her daughter. Still bubbling with laughter, Arriana giggled out, "I said droog! Uncle Rick is a droog!" "Superhero! I knew it! Your smart girl thinks I'm a superhero! Oh yeah, I'm really strong aren't I? Just like a superhero," Castle teased.

"I'm having lunch with two silly kids. Tell him what droog means in English, Arri, before his ego gets any larger."

"Friend! Uncle Rick is a friend. Am I right, mommy?" she asked, eyes opened wide and looking all too eager to please. Smiling back at her, Kate patted her head. "Yes, my clever little girl, droog means friend. Now lets get back to eating before the food's all cold, ok?"

After lunch, Kate slathered more calamine lotion onto Arriana as she told her, "Now, you be a good girl with Uncle Rick, alright? Mommy needs to run to the store to buy some groceries so Uncle Rick's gonna watch you for a bit. And if you're a good girl, I'll have a surprise for you later."

"Alright Castle, you behave yourself," Kate teased as she collected her purse and keys. "Are you gonna spank me if I'm a bad boy?" he shot back. Kate rolled her eyes and ignored that. "You know where the medicine's kept but Arri should be fine. Don't worry, she's not allergic to anything, but try not to give her too much junk food or candy. Make yourself comfortable; if you can't find something, just ask Arri alright? And call me if there's anything, Castle."

"Yes, yes, mommy, now get out so we can have some fun!" Castle ushered her toward the door. "Don't forget, I raised Alexis all by myself and she turned out alright. Although, I'm not really sure if that was actually my influence. Even so, don't worry, I'm sure whatever damage I do won't be permanent anyway."

"Remember I have a gun, Castle. Bye kids," Kate said as she left and Castle locked the door behind her.

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Kate went through the aisles at the grocery store determinedly. Grabbing the things she needed on her list, she quickly collected all that she needed and headed to the cashier. It's not that she doesn't trust Castle, she does, he was her partner after all and did have a grown up daughter that he raised alone, but this was the first time Kate left Arriana with someone new all alone.

Kate called Castle's cell phone just as she was heading out of the grocery store to check in on them and give him a heads up that she was on her way back. Castle then passed the phone to Arriana so they could talk for a bit before hanging up.

Kate tentatively opened the door to her apartment, remembering the time she visited the Castles unannounced, interrupting their game of laser tag. She did not have those equipments in her place, but this was Castle she was talking about. Who knew what he could have come up with within the short span of time.

Bracing herself, Kate was met with… silence? "Castle?" she whispered, glancing around furtively. "Oh, you're back. Don't worry, Arriana just took a nap like five minutes ago. Here, let me help you with that," Castle offered, taking the bags of grocery from her and bringing it into the kitchen as Kate took off her shoes and put her purse down.

"Alright, thanks again for watching her, Castle," she told him as she entered the kitchen, continuing, "So, how do you feel about chocolate brownies?"

"It's chocolate, Beckett. You can never go wrong with chocolate; much less chocolate brownies!" he replied all too brightly.

"Good to know, Castle," she chuckled back. "Look, I want you to know that I really appreciate your help here, and I figured, the least I could do is bake you one of my mom's chocolate brownies."

"Beckett, it's really not necessary. Look, I don't expect anything from you, and Arriana is down with the chicken pox, I understand if you're too busy."

"No, really, Castle. Just let me thank you alright?" she said a little uncomfortably. Forcibly using a lighter tone, she continued, "Look, one, it's my mom's recipe and really yummy. Two, Arri's asleep thanks to you, so I'm free for the moment anyway. Three, Arriana loves decorating the brownies when I manage to find the time to bake. It'll help keep her mind off the itchiness as well. So are you gonna help me bake?"

"When you put it like that, detective, how could I ever refuse?" he teased her charmingly. "Alright, here's the recipe," she pulled out a notebook and flipped to the correct page. "Could you start measuring out the ingredients while I put the other things away? Measuring cups are in the third drawer over there."

Minutes later, Kate walked over to stand next to Castle, watching him measure out the last of the sugar. She eyed the bowl of chocolate suspiciously. "Castle, did you measure out the ingredients properly? 'Cos the chocolate seems a bit… more than I remember."

"Oh yeah, I added a bit more chocolate than was required," he replied nonchalantly. "How much more? Half a cup? One cup?"

Shying away like a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, he mumbled something incoherently. "What's that, Castle? Speak up, I can't hear you," she walked towards him, slowly stalking her prey.

"I might have erm, might have, added, three cups?" he said, backing away quickly, picking up a bowl from the counter for defense reflexively. Beckett wouldn't hit him would she? He'd drop the bowl and then they'd have a mess. Castle winced as Beckett's eyes widened in surprise. Glancing down at his ammo, he couldn't help wincing once more.

In his haste, Castle had picked up the bowl containing the sole reason Beckett was looking like she was going to hit him or twist his ear. "Castle that doesn't look like three cups of chocolate," she said menacingly.

"Ahh, it might have been three cups… inadditiontowhattherecipecal ledfor. Chocolate?" he quickly offered the bowl to her as he popped a piece of chocolate into his mouth, trying to neutralize the threat.

Rolling her eyes, she popped a piece of proffered chocolate into her mouth, warning him, "You're still not off the hook, Castle. The brownie isn't gonna hold if we add so much chocolate."

"Well, more for us to eat then," he shot back, as he turned her around by the shoulders and guiding her back to the counter so they could start mixing the ingredients.

She instructed Castle to add the ingredients into the bowl as she stirred them together. In between ingredients, Castle would pop a piece of chocolate into his mouth, chewing it, before eating another piece of chocolate.

Kate had to give it to him; he was doing a good job of reducing the amount of chocolate in the bowl. "Castle you're driving me crazy. Go melt the chocolate in the microwave, will you?"

A minute later, he ambled back to her with a hot bowl of melted chocolate. Dipping his finger inside to steal some, Castle jumped back as he exclaimed in surprise. "Castle, what are you, like three? You just melted a bowl of chocolate; of course it's going to burn you. Here, pour it in with the rest slowly," she instructed him.

Grumbling a little under his breath, Castle did as he was told. When he was done, Castle tested the remaining chocolate in the bowl with the tip of his finger. Deciding it wasn't too hot to burn him again, he swiped his finger around the bowl, cleaning the bowl thoroughly.

"This is some good chocolate, Beckett. That brownie is going to taste amazing," he told her after sucking his finger clean. Giving him a look, Kate smiled and continued mixing the ingredients quietly. "You disagree?" he asked at her silence.

Still smiling, Beckett shook her head. "You're such a kid, Castle."

"What? Don't tell me you never cleaned a bowl with your finger. It's amazing, really, Alexis and I used to do it all the time whenever we baked. Seriously, here," his finger took another circuit around the bowl, and Castle offered his chocolate coated finger to her.

To his surprise, she actually leant forward and sucked his finger. Looking at her face in surprise, Castle was completely caught off guard at her open and carefree exhibition of playful delight. However, his mind couldn't help but note what a sensual creature she was. He would have dropped his hand, but she was still sucking at his finger.

Her swirling tongue and the sucking pressure on his digit caused his mind to immediately jump to thoughts of other things that made the blood rush from his head to his… other head.

Kate Beckett had no idea what she was doing. Later on, she would probably plead temporary insanity to account for her actions. One moment she was indulging him, after all, she too used to lick the bowl of chocolate clean when she baked with her mom, and the next, she was hit by a wave of smoldering _something_.

It must have been the chocolate, combined with Castle and all his roguishness that caused her brain to flip a switch, even though his intentions were purely innocent when he offered the chocolate.

Kate saw the surprise flicker across his face before his eyes dilated in response.

"Mommy?"

The two adults clambered apart, both dropping their eyes to look at something decidedly more interesting than each other. Tucking her hair behind her ear, Kate stuttered out, "Could, could you, mix this? I'll just… check on Arriana for a bit."

She passed the bowl over and quickly walked to her daughter, rubbing her back soothingly to chase the sleep away from her little girl, staying silent for a moment to calm her racing heart. "How are you, baby girl? Did you have a nice nap?"

The girl nodded her head as she gave one last yawn. "Uncle Rick told me you were a good girl for him. Remember the surprise mommy told you about," Kate continued, picking up the girl in her arms as she walked over to the kitchen counter she and Castle were at just seconds ago.

"Mommy and Uncle Rick are baking grandma's special brownie, and you get to decorate it when we're done. Would you like that?" she asked, settling Arriana on one of the high stools.

Nodding enthusiastically, she beamed at her mom, saying, "Yes, mommy, I decorate it and make it so pretty!" "Okay, let me put this into the oven and we can bake it, alright?" Kate placated her daughter. She took out the trays and began pouring the batter that Castle had been mixing into the tray.

"Erm, listen Beckett, it's getting late, I should go. I'll call you, alright? You have fun decorating, Arriana," Castle said hurriedly, washing his hands and wiping them dry. Kate who was about to load the tray into the oven just stood stock-still. "I'll let myself out. Erm, bye."

And with that, Castle hightailed out of her apartment, leaving Detective Beckett reeling in shock until her daughter asked if she was going to load the tray. What the hell had just happened?

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A/N: Reviews make me update faster ;)


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Happy Chinese Valentines! I'm sending cyber hearts to all of you for your supports :)

Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine :(

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**Chapter Three**

He had to get out of there. When Arriana interrupted the little stunt Beckett unknowingly pulled, Castle felt the all-too-familiar embarrassment that time when Alexis had walked in on him and Gina on the couch. No, no, he's not going to let his mind go back down that lane.

There was a large difference between the two scenarios though. Alexis had been old enough to know what was going on and ran straight back into her room whereas Arriana was too young to know what a number the innocent act her mom pulled had done to him.

But then again, he and Gina were a couple when that fiasco happened whereas Beckett and him were… What were they? Alexis introduced him to a new word the other day. Flirtationship. It's more than friendship but less than a relationship. A flirting relationship. Were he and Beckett in one? To makes things even more confusing, they were partners.

They've been through so many things together Castle didn't want to mess things up again. His mind was going a million miles a minute.

One thing was sure, though. He needed air. Leaving his car by her apartment, Castle decided to walk all the way back to his loft. He'd send someone to pick up his car another time.

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The brownies came out just fine, even with the additional chocolate mixed in. Kate distracted her daughter by coloring, but little Arriana knew something was off when her mom kept daydreaming instead of coloring.

Kate was startled when a small hand touched her cheek. "Mommy, are you okay?"

Breaking into a smile, Kate told her, "Yes, baby girl, mommy's fine. I'm sorry, I just have a lot on my mind."

"Did Uncle Rick do something wrong? He gave me five gummy worms and told me to keep it a secret. But he says if mommy asks I can tell her, but only if you ask me first, mommy. I'm sorry for keeping a secret from you but Uncle Rick was just trying to make me feel better. Don't be mad, mommy," she pleaded.

"Oh baby girl, I'm not mad. Thanks for telling me anyway. Mommy's just feeling a little off. Is it ok if we decorate the brownies tomorrow instead?" Kate bargained, all the while wondering how and when her daughter became so astute. She was oblivious to the real reason of Kate being in her current predicament, but the five year old girl had somehow manage to surmise it might have something to do with Rick.

"Okay. Let's go mommy. Time for my shower, I'm itchy again," saying so, she began putting her things away before pulling her mom up.

Kate managed to shower and settle Arriana into bed in record time. Deciding to try and sleep early so she could get better perspective the next day, Kate showered and cleaned up quickly. She picked up her phone multiple times, almost calling him, only to stop herself at the last moment.

Then, she settled in next to her daughter, trying to go to sleep. An hour of tossing and turning later, Kate gave in and called his cell phone. However, it went straight to voicemail. Resigning herself to her fate, Kate put her phone away and tried to sleep again. Sleep did not come to her until five hours later.

Kate wished she could have said she woke up nice and fresh in the morning but that was not the case. She woke up feeling lethargic and even worse than the previous day. Kate had barely slept a wink the previous night, and she could start feeling it's effects.

Luckily her coffee machine ran on a timer basis and by the time she exited the bathroom, the wonderful fragrant was wafting through the air. Checking that Arriana was still sleeping peacefully, Kate fixed herself a cup of coffee and sat on the high stool, ruminating once more.

Arriana woke up scratching her neck. It was just _So_ itchy. Then remembering what her mom told her, she tried rubbing the itchiness away. It wasn't really working. Time to get mommy.

Still rubbing her neck rather ineffectively, Arriana walked into the living room. Smelling the coffee, she headed toward the kitchen next. Kate was clutching the coffee mug in both hands, staring off into space.

Her mom still hadn't noticed her. Arriana was getting worried. Her mom has been thinking too much lately. And whenever she woke up feeling itchy the previous night her mom tended to her immediately as she hadn't been sleeping.

Mommy looked tired and a little sad. Ambling over, little Arriana Beckett greeted, "Good morning mommy. You's feeling better?"

"Good morning my little sweetheart. Thank you for asking how mommy's doing. I'm feeling much better now. Is your neck itchy? Here let me help you with that."

Trying to soothe the red skin, Kate slowly led Arriana to the shower. When she was all ready, Kate settled Arriana down for breakfast while she prepared the different colored icings into tubes and laid out the small decorations.

Arriana quickly gulped down her breakfast, eager to start decorating as her mom made a phone call.

Kate wanted to check in on Castle, worried with how they left things off the previous evening and to let him know his brownie would be ready in a few hours. However, Kate's call went straight to voicemail again. That was strange, but Arriana was eagerly bouncing up and down waiting for her mom so Kate hung up and left it at that.

Kate kept an eye on her daughter who insisted on decorating the brownies all by herself. Kate had nothing much to do besides occasionally telling Arriana when a brownie had too much icing on it, making her move on to decorating another piece.

It wasn't long before her mind started wandering to a certain mystery writer. Finding the need to stretch her legs, Kate stood up and made her way to the window. Gazing out mindlessly, Kate's detective instincts took over and she let her eyes survey her view below.

Just as she was about to leave the window, something caught her eye. Funny. Isn't that Castle's car?

Her mind began to go a mile a minute as she slipped out her phone and tried calling him again. What if Castle hadn't gotten home last night? What if the roguish writer who smelled of money from a mile away had gotten mugged as he left her place? Was that why he wasn't picking up his phone?

When there was still no answer, Kate made a split second decision. "Come on Arri, let's go. Mommy needs to check on something," Kate explained as she cleared the table. Thankfully the brownies were already in containers. Putting their lids on, she continued, "Let's go give Uncle Rick his brownies."

Grabbing her phone, Beckett stuffed it into her jeans pockets. Luckily, the other things should still be in her purse so she was good to go. Just needed to get her back up piece from the safe. Telling Arriana to wash her hands and to put on her shoes, Kate stepped into her bedroom to get her gun. Just in case.

Bundling her daughter in a light sweater just in case she felt chilly, they soon left the apartment, brownies in tow. Kate tried calling Castle's phone again, but there was still no answer.

Getting to his place in record time, Kate quickly went up to his loft. Passing the brownies for Arriana to hold, Kate made her stand off to the side as she knocked on the door.

When she couldn't hear any sounds coming from within his loft, Kate began reaching for her piece. Before she could pull it out, the door swung open to show a very disheveled looking Richard Castle.

"Kate? Wha… What are you doing here? Is everything alright? Where's Arriana?"

"Oh thank god you're alright, Castle. Arriana's here with me," she breathed out. "Of course I'm alright. Why- what did you think happened?"

"Erm, actually, Arriana brought brownies for you," she finished lamely. Castle gestured for them to enter and Kate ushered her daughter in before her. The little girl still held the containers of brownies in her hands as she looked around the spacey loft in wonder.

"Dad? Who was that?" Alexis asked as she came down the stairs. She stopped short at the landing when her eyes fell upon their guests. "Detective Beckett," she greeted, before continuing all flustered, "and, er, you have er, your guest."

Belatedly Kate remembered his daughter, Alexis. Stupid, stupid Kate. Why didn't she call Alexis to check on her father before rushing over like a fool?! "This is my daughter, Arriana. Arriana, say hi to Alexis."

The girls exchanged somewhat awkward greetings before Arriana faced her mom to bury her face into her thigh. "Mommy, the brownies," she mumbled shyly.

"Oh right," Kate remembered as she snapped out of her funk, "here are your brownies, as promised. Arriana decorated them all by herself this morning."

Castle was still hovering near his door, seemingly slightly lost. Huh, Kate could relate. It felt like a hurricane just blazed by. Thankfully, Alexis still kept her head on straight. "I'll just take that and put it away."

Sensing the adults had more to say to each other, she continued as she took the brownies from Arriana, "Hey Arriana, you wanna come with me and tell me all about the decorations you put on the brownies? After that we could go check out my bedroom. I still keep some of my favorite toys from back when I was a little girl like you. I'd love to show them to you."

Arriana looked to her mom to ask for permission silently. Kate threw a grateful look at Alexis and looked back down to smile at her daughter, nodding and ushering her to follow Alexis.

Holding one of her hands, Alexis began talking to the little girl animatedly as she led them to the kitchen. "So, Arriana, how old are you?"

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A/N: Pretty short chapter, but Alexis meets Arriana! :) Next chapter coming up real soon. In the meanwhile, why don't you go ahead and click on the review button. You know you want to...


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: OMG have you guys seen Hunt?! The two-parter was just- I can't even- I'm just gonna shut up now. Anyhoo, time to knock some sense into these dummies!

Disclaimer: Not mine!

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**Chapter Four**

Kate slowly turned to face Castle, taking a deep breath in preparation for whatever was about to come spewing out of his mouth. Only then did she see him properly for the first time that day.

The once infamous playboy had seen much better days. The dark rings under his eyes matched hers; his hair was awry and jutting out at funny angles; his clothes were still the same as the previous day, only much more wrinkled. He also had a stubble that in Kate's opinion only made him look all the more bad boy-ish and hotter.

"Beckett? What, what's going on? I mean, thank you for the brownies, I'm sure they will be delicious and Arriana must've decorated them gorgeously, but what are you doing here? Sorry, my brain hasn't properly started functioning. Coffee?" he offered, leading the way into the kitchen anyway.

Alexis had already snuck Arriana up into her room quietly and Castle was thankful for that. First of all, they didn't need an audience, and secondly, he needed caffeine, stat.

Making two cups, he passed one over to Kate. "Rough night?" she asked tentatively. "Me too," she continued when he grunted a reply while taking a healthy gulp of the heavenly coffee.

"I… guess I owe you an explanation," Kate said as she settled into one of the stools nearby. "I tried calling your phone multiple times this morning but there wasn't any answer. Then when I saw your car still parked outside my building, I started to worry. I thought you'd been mugged or something."

"What? I needed some fresh air last night, after…" Clearing his throat, he continued, "Anyway, I walked back. And as for my phone, it must be on silent in my jacket or something. I haven't checked that thing since yesterday."

An awkward silence befell the duo.

"About yesterday, Kate –"

"No, Castle, please, lets not go there," she sighed out dejectedly. "Let's just pretend nothing happened, and just move on.

Looking at his face, she saw his eyes harden as he clenched his jaw.

"No way." Castle was seething. "Katherine Beckett, you do not get to hide out anymore. Last night was horrible for me, and judging by the dark circles under your eyes, it wasn't too easy for you either.

"What happened in your kitchen clearly was significant enough to affect the both of us. And don't pretend that you don't care about me. You rushed over here this morning, worried about me. You were reaching for your gun, weren't you, when I opened the door?

"I'm sick of this Kate. I know I care about you, and I know you care about me to a certain extent at least. Why can't we just–"

"Don't say it, Castle. Please, don't. We'll never be able to go back to the way things were," she broke in, holding his gaze for a second before quickly averting as a wayward tear made its traitorous way down her cheek.

"I don't want things to be the way there were, Kate. I want so much more, and I want it with you."

"Castle, you're my best friend. Please, try to understand," she pleaded, "I don't want to lose my best friend." Continuing in a softer voice, she added, "Besides, things are complicated."

Finishing her coffee, the bittersweet taste marred by her salty tears, Kate made her way to the sink to wash her cup. She silently cried, because all this while she had her suspicions, _strong_ suspicions that Castle wanted to be more than her friend, but he had never voiced it out loud even though they both knew it.

Now that the words have been spoken out loud, they could never go back to the way things were. Even if they remained friends, things would be _different_. She quietly cried for the best friend she had lost.

Castle dumped his cup in the sink, then gently but firmly took the cup from her hands and placed it next to his before turning off the tap. "This conversation isn't over, Kate," he remarked fiercely, leading her into his study.

He grabbed a box of tissues from the table and passed it to her, pushing her into one of his comfy chairs. He paced in front of her for a while, before sitting in the chair opposite hers.

"Talk to me, Kate. Please," he begged. He's been waiting for so many years, being patient. No way he's going down without a fight.

"I just… we… it's complicated, Castle."

"The hell it is! Why, Kate? Why is it complicated? Because you have a daughter who you've kept hidden this whole time? Because I've had two divorces under my belt and a teenage daughter? Because we're partners and somehow you're also my best friend?"

When Kate kept silent, he plowed on. "Well guess what. I know about your daughter already. And my divorces, they've only made me learn from my mistakes. Alexis is the greatest thing that ever happened to me, and I won't apologize for that. You have a daughter too, you know what I mean."

Kate just sat there mutely, looking at the carpet as tears continued leaking down her face. "Damn it, Kate! Say something!" he growled out frustratedly, pulling at his hair as he stood up and faced the wall.

"You want me to say something, fine! Here it is," she shouted, standing from her seat too. "I'm scared, okay! More than that, I'm terrified! I don't want to lose my best friend! I don't want to end up hurting Arriana!

"Last night, as I lay in bed trying to sleep, all I could picture were futures of us together! But it will never happen, Castle. I want so much to be like what I envisioned, but I'm damaged and scarred, Castle. I'm not ever going to be enough, all your expectations, I'm never gonna be that.

"You think I've never thought about this?! The press would have a field day! Richard Castle, bestselling playboy crime novelist and real-life muse, making fantasy a reality. It's hard enough being a single mom who can't spend enough time being with her own daughter!

"And I have to juggle my job, which I love, but it took me so long to prove to everyone I deserve this job. I don't need the press making me out to be the flavor of the week for one of New York's top playboy bachelor."

Castle opened his mouth to interrupt, but Beckett was having none of that. She was on a roll and she'd be damned if she let him cut in before she was done.

"I'm already missing out on so much of Arriana's life. I'm a terrible enough mother, I can't afford to have anything else in my life that would take me away from her!" she broke down.

Castle gathered her into his arms, embracing her tightly as she cried. Using one hand to guide her face up to his, he looked straight into her eyes and told her, "Hey, listen to me, Kate Beckett, you are a wonderful mother and it's so glaringly obvious to me how much you care for Arriana. You hear me, Kate? You're a wonderful mother, don't you ever doubt that."

Looking into her eyes and seeing just how broken she was, voicing out her deepest fears and insecurities, he couldn't help but want to go out there and punch the lights out of all the people who ever made her doubt herself so badly.

"Kate, I know we both have messy histories, but we can't change that. The only thing you can change is who you want to be, the person you will become. That's what I've been doing, Kate, all these years following you around, I'm trying Kate, I'm trying to change myself, to put it all behind. But I'm not going to give up without trying, Kate."

Emotions were running high and in the midst of it all, Castle was swept away by his passions. Before Castle knew what he was going to do, he somehow closed the gap between their lips.

Kate let out a gasp of surprise, before kissing him back just as passionately, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Dad? Detective Beckett?" the teenager's voice floated into the study. For the second time in twenty-four hours the two adults clamored apart. Kate hurriedly wiped of any remaining tears on her face and tried to look as normal as possible.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. We didn't mean to interrupt, Arriana was wondering if you guys would like to try the brownies now," Alexis apologized when she saw the flustered adults. "Mommy, what's wrong? Were you crying?" the little girl asked as she ran over and hugged onto her mother's leg.

Kate bent down to be on the same level as her daughter. "It's okay honey, I'm fine. How about some brownies?" Forcing her voice to be falsely chirpier, Kate picked up her daughter and walk out of the study, holding onto her tight.

"I- I'm sorry dad, we didn't mean to barge in like that, I didn't know –"

"That's alright Alexis, come on, I could do with some brownies right now." Slugging an arm over Alexis' shoulder, the Castles made their way out into the kitchen as well. Kate was settling Arriana into one of the high stools near the counter.

Alexis headed to the refrigerator to take out the brownies as Castle took out plates and cutlery. Laying one each in front of Kate and Arriana, she stopped him, interrupting, "Actually, Arriana and I will share just one. It's almost time for her nap and we need to make a move soon, don't want to intrude on your day."

Arriana chose that moment to put a palm on her mother's cheek, staring into her mother's eyes with her big googly pair, saying, "Ne plach, mommy. Vse budet harasho."

"Spaceeba maia daragaia, ia znaiu," she replied, breaking into a smile. Turning to Alexis, she said, "Now how 'bout those brownies?"

They ate the brownies by the kitchen island, with the Castles complimenting Beckett on the delicious brownies and praising Arriana on the beautiful decorations. Soon enough, the plates were devoid of food. As Kate brought the things to the sink with Castle, Arriana began complaining that her neck was itchy.

"I've got powder in my room, let me help her with it," Alexis quickly volunteered, eager to give the adults some privacy, especially since she and Arriana inadvertently intruded on them earlier on. Opening her mouth to refute, Beckett changed her mind halfway through.

"Sure, thanks a lot."

Holding the small girl's hand, Alexis led her upstairs. When they were once again alone, Castle was the first to break the silence.

"You don't have to leave so soon you know, what you said earlier, you wouldn't be intruding."

"Castle, what are we doing?"

"I don't know. But if you'd stay, we could figure it out, Beckett." He wanted to add a please at the end of his sentence, but begging and pleading only seemed to have the opposite effects on Kate, if he remembered it clearly. Besides, he was up for being honest with his emotions with her, but she had to meet him halfway. After all, a functioning adult relationship would require things to go both ways.

They heard footsteps coming down the stairs so Kate had to think fast. "We don't have much time. They'll be here soon. So?" Castle prodded.

"Uhm…"

"Detective Beckett? Yeah I just wanted to let you know that after I put on the powder, Arriana wasn't itchy anymore. But, she was kinda exhausted, so I told her she could take a nap on my bed first," the red-head said hesitantly.

The ball was in Kate's court now. She could run back to her place and hide from Castle and her myriad of emotions, or she could stay and talk to him without worrying about the kids interrupting them again.

Looking at Castle, she gave him the barest hint of a nod. Taking her cue, he turned to his daughter. "Alexis honey, would you mind watching Arriana for a bit? Detective Beckett and I are just gonna be in my office."

"Okay," she beamed. "I've got some reading up to do anyway. I'll come get you if Arriana wakes and starts looking for you."

With that, the teenager high-tailed out of there, bounding up the stairs again. "Come on," Castle said as he gestured with his head for Kate to follow him into the study once again.

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A/N: Don't kill me! Caskett won't be Caskett without their complications... I promise they'll iron things out real soon :) review!

Oh and here's a loose translation of what Arriana and Beckett said in Russian.

_"Ne plach, mommy. Vse budet harasho." - "Dont cry, mommy. All will be well."_

_"Spaceeba maia daragaia, ia znaiu," - "Thank you my darling, I know,"_


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Wheee! I'm in such a fantabulous mood right now I'm posting this chapter early :) Thanks so much for all your continuous support! I'm thinking of maybe getting a cover art for this fic. PM me if interested or if you've got suggestions :)

Disclaimer: If Castle belonged to me, there would be no hiatus, period.

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**Chapter Five**

Castle promptly shut the door behind Beckett after she entered. There would be no escape, nor any interruptions this time. Castle had waited long enough and it seemed that this was the very first time they were both more or less on the same front.

There weren't boyfriends or ex-wives to get in the way this time. He was determined to get his answer once and for all. Both of them settled back into the same chairs, facing each other. An awkward silence befell the duo.

"Wow, I don't think I can ever recall it ever being so quiet with you around," Beckett joked. "So what's on your mind?"

"Honestly? Right now the only thing I'm thinking about is kissing you again." The moment those words flew out of his mouth, Castle cringed. Damn reflex. And what the hell happened to his brain-to-mouth filter anyway?

Luckily, Beckett broke out into a laugh, effectively breaking the tension in the air. "So we're being completely honest with each other?" she asked rather redundantly. "It's the only way for us to figure out what we're doing, Beckett. So, complete honesty?"

_What's it going to be, Kate? This is it. He already knows about Arriana. The hard part's over. Do you want this enough to be willing to risk your heart? Is it worth it? _

She's been through so much with Castle and he was always there for her throughout the whole journey. He was her partner, and she trusted him with her life.

She thought back to their explosive kiss in this very same room, and her heart whispered a yes – it's time to trust him with her heart too. _Time to think with your heart and not your head, Kate._

"Sure, I'm up for it if you are. What I mentioned just now still stands, Castle. About my job, and the press, Arriana, my history, _your_ history. You're my best friend and my partner, Castle. And I've had you around for so long that – that I'm terrified of losing you. It scares me sometimes how much I depend on you being around for me."

"Hey, hey, slow down there Kate. One thing at a time, okay? If we _do_ choose to move forward together," he began tentatively and slowly, making sure she hears every word he says, "we'll keep things on the down low. Your job, it'll still be the same. They all know how good you are and they won't judge you. Hell, the whole homicide department probably have a few bets going round 'bout us already.

"And the press, Kate? I'd want to publish in every single newspaper there is, just so everyone would know just how lucky I am! But if you don't want it, I understand. That's why I have people like Paula to handle these kinds of things. I can't promise that it would never get to the press, but I will do my best to keep your privacy. Maybe one day down the road we'd be prepared, but until then, no one else has to know."

Catching her hands in his larger ones, he continued earnestly. "I'm honored to have met Arriana. And I don't know her that well yet, but I can already tell that she would be someone all too easy to love. But no matter what happens, I want you to know that I'll always be here for you, Kate. Partners till the end, and nothing can ever change that. We've faced bombs and that stupid freezer, we almost died so many times, and yet we're still here, together. We'll get through this hurdle together."

"But things aren't so simple, Castle," she interjected. "Why not, Kate? Why can't we make things simple? I've done complicated with my ex-wives and I don't want that. Let's just take things one day at a time and not complicate things too much. I – I care about you, Kate."

He grasped her hands a little tighter when she tried to pull away. She stopped resisting quickly enough, but Castle waited out in silence until she looked him in the face. "I care about you _so much_, Kate. And I think you care about me too. So why can't we care about each other together?"

"That's just the thing, Castle. I care about you, I really do, but how well do you know me? I don't share easily, Castle, and for good reason. I… I'm not good for you… or your family. I've got so much baggage, and I don't want to drag you under with me."

"Let me help you, Kate. Just, just forget about everything for a minute. I care about you, and you care about me. Lets just start from there, and whatever happens, we'll deal with it together. I'm right here, Kate. And I'm going to continue being right here. You can try to deal with your baggage alone, or you could let me help you. And let me tell you, it'd be so much easier if we face things together.

"I don't want to look back one day and wonder 'what if', Kate. I think we both deserve a shot, and even if we crash and burn, at least we would have known that we tried, Kate. The both of us deserve that, at the very least.

"Kate, I've loved in the past, and I've been hurt, and so have you, but we're both still standing here. I'm fighting for us, but I need you too, Kate. Don't leave me hanging all by myself."

This was it. He laid things all out for them. If she were playing poker, this would be when she'd have to decide to fold, or go all in.

"Okay," she said softly.

"Kate, please – wait. What did you say?"

"I said okay. Let's do this together. Let's fight for this," she repeated, in a stronger and lighter voice, a hint of a smile beginning to peek through.

"Real- really?" Castle exclaimed with a full on grin. Biting her bottom lip while smiling, Kate nodded. Leaning forward slowly, she pressed a chaste kiss on his lips. "This is it, Castle. We've sealed it with a kiss. No going back now."

"Never," he said against her lips, before pulling her into his lap for a thorough kiss.

"I think this calls for a celebration," Castle murmured against her ear. "Stay for dinner?"

She hummed in content. "I gotta find a way to tell Arriana about us though."

"Well, haven't you introduced her to your previous boyfriends?" he asked quizzically. "Mmm, no, actually. I never really saw the relationship going that far so I didn't want to introduce her to them in case she'd get attached and things don't work out."

Only then did Castle realize the severity of that implication. She thought they'd make it. She had faith in _them_, more so than her previous relationship with doctor-motorcycle-boy or Agent Schlemming. Kate Beckett was implying a long-term relationship. _With him_. Her one and done. She really was opening up and making an effort to make this relationship work.

Leaning back against her silent partner, she asked for his input. "How'd you use to introduce Alexis? Any useful pointers?"

"Well actually, I didn't introduce her to that many people either. I was afraid she'd get attached to someone who wouldn't be there too. But when I was serious, I started introducing them to her as my friend. Then as they started bonding a little, I'd tell her we're dating."

"Sounds like a plan," she replied softly, smiling serenely. "I could get used to this," Castle said, nudging her with his shoulder, "Just hanging out, in my couch, the two of us."

"Me too."

"Oh one thing though, I know you want to keep us on the hush hush, but I'd like to tell Alexis. I'll tell her not to share it with anyone, but I don't want to be keeping this from her. Is that okay?"

"Of course. You want to go tell her now?" she volunteered, moving to get out of his lap. She let out a squeal of surprise when Castle tugged her back, effectively landing her back into his lap. "I think it can wait till later. I'm not quite done with you yet." Smiling at her, he brought her in for another kiss.

Smiling into his kiss, Kate couldn't help but wonder why they didn't do this sooner. She could certainly get used to this.

* * *

An hour later, the two lovebirds startled awake. It started out with Kate leaning her head on Castle's shoulder after their bout of make out session. It wasn't long before they both ended up taking a nap in each others' arms on his couch.

They both stood up to stretch their limbs. "I better check on Arriana. Woops, I didn't mean to leave her with Alexis for so long."

"Come on, let's go check on the kids." Holding her hand and tugging her forward, Castle led them toward Alexis' room.

Knocking on the door before entering, they were met by a sight of the little brown head asleep soundly and the red head sprawled on her stomach with a book in front of her, one of her earphones stuck into her ear.

Seeing them, Alexis pushed up into a sitting position and yanked the earphone out. "Dad, Detective Beckett,' she greeted, "Are you… good?"

Alexis was pleased to see her dad smiling brightly for the first time in so long as he replied, "Yeah, we're good."

Beckett nudged him with her shoulder, adding, "Yeah, we're better than good." Untangling their hands, she made her way over to the bed, checking her daughter for any fever or cold sweats.

Meanwhile, Alexis had gotten round to her father and was enveloping him in a great big hug. "Dad, I'm so happy for the two of you." Kissing her father on the cheek, she went over to give the detective a hug too.

If Kate was shocked, she recovered quickly, hugging the teen back enthusiastically. "Sweetheart, Kate and I would like to keep things quiet for now, so we'd prefer if you don't tell anyone else about us in the meantime."

"Especially Lanie," Kate added, looking at the teen. "Sure thing, Detective Beckett."

"Please, call me Kate. I'm only detective while on the job."

"Oh really? Won't Detective Beckett come out and play?" Castle teased. "Ew dad, kids present. I don't need more therapy," Alexis groaned out. "Like I get that you guys are in the honeymoon phase and all, but get a room or get out, dad."

"Yeah Castle, let's try to _not_ traumatize the kids any more than you've already done."

"Hey, no fair! No ganging up against me," he whined before pouting like a small kid. "Is he always like that?" Kate asked Alexis jokingly. "Come on, Castle, let's get out and leave some peace for the girl."

Turning to Alexis, she continued, "Can I just leave Arriana to continue napping here? I don't want to wake her up. Could you please just come get us when she wakes? Maybe we could all watch a movie together?"

"Sure, that sounds good. And by the way, like, if you guys haven't deduced it yet, I'm really happy for the both of you," Alexis said a little shyly.

Castle dropped another kiss on his daughter's forehead before leading Kate out of the room.

"Now that we're together, I get to call you Kate right?" he asked playfully. "Of course, Rick," she purred, rolling the R out. "Just not at the precinct, okay? It's Beckett there. And if you slip up," she paused menacingly, pressing her body into his, "Detective Beckett will have to teach you a lesson."

"Oh really?" he panted out, "what kind of lesson?"

"Let's just say it'll be a _private _lesson that you won't be forgetting anytime soon, Ricky." Saying so, she patted him on the cheek before walking away.

Castle had to bite his fist to keep his excitement contained. He finally got the girl, but boy oh boy, the thrill will never be over for them. Taking in a deep breath, he hurried after her.

* * *

Castle and Beckett were chilling out in his living room when Alexis came down the stairs with Arriana in tow. "There's your mommy," Alexis exclaimed as they came into view. Arriana dropped her hand and raced into the open arms of her mother.

Alexis walked over and lounged by her dad as Kate kissed her daughter on the forehead. "Hi sleepyhead, you feeling much better? Did you have a good nap? Remember to thank Alexis for letting you sleep on her pretty and comfy bed," Kate murmured.

The little girl nodded to her mom before turning to face Alexis and thanking her shyly.

"So, is the movie offer still up?" Alexis asked brightly. "Yeah, oh can we watch Brave?" Castle asked excitedly. "Sure, I'm fine with it. Kate, have you seen it?" mini Castle asked.

"Nope, we haven't seen it either. Brave it is then."

"Okay, Alexis and I will go get the snacks. Caramel popcorn and ice cream sound good? Great, Kate, could you get the DVD from that cabinet over there and pop it into the player? It should be pretty simple," he directed.

The Castles entered the kitchen to prepare the snacks. Castle hip checked his daughter playfully, his way of checking in on her, seeing if things were good between them. Alexis might be happy for him and Kate but she was still his little girl, and he wanted her to know that things would still be the same between them. Alexis smiled back at him and hip checked him right back.

Meanwhile, Kate and Arriana went to look for the DVD. Finding it wasn't a problem but Kate had some difficulty setting things up. Only Castle would have such a complex system in his loft. With some trial and error, and surprisingly helpful input from Arriana, they managed to set things up and were good to go when the Castles came back bearing snacks.

"Here, follow my lead, Arriana," Alexis instructed as she set the bowl of popcorn down and proceeded to take some pillows from the other couches and plopping them on the floor. Arranging the pillows on the floor, the two girls soon made themselves comfortable, laying on the ground with the popcorn bowl between them for easy access.

Kate settled into the couch behind her daughter and picked up the other bowl of popcorn. "Everyone comfortable? Good, here's your ice cream. I hope you like cookies and cream," Castle told them as he passed out bowls of ice cream to the girls on the floor and then hitting the play button.

He passed Kate her bowl and dimmed the lights. "Thanks Castle," she said, wiggling around him to get comfortable.

Arriana Beckett turned around and asked her mom loudly, "Mommy, how come you call Uncle Rick as Castle? He calls you Kate, so how come you be calling him Castle still?"

As three pairs of eyes trained on her awaiting her reply, Kate noticed Alexis smiling while Castle began to smirk. "Hush now, Arri, the movie's starting," she deflected. The two girls on the floor turned back to face the television as the music began.

After a beat or two, Kate bumped Castle's shoulder with hers. "And _you_ can stop smirking."

* * *

A/N: Caskett fluff makes me oh so giddy. You know what else make me giddy? Reivews! :D


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Not mine!

* * *

**Chapter Six**

Upon finishing the movie they had an uneventful dinner, after which Kate and Arriana made a move to go home. She lingered back a bit after bundling Arriana up, giving Castle the chance to sidle up to her as they shared a brief good night kiss.

Kate sent him a text upon entering her unit, just so he would know that they had got home safely. Giving Arriana another quick bath before slathering her in lotion again, Kate finally put her to bed. The young girl put up no resistance, and complied quietly after the eventful day she had. She was asleep within minutes of resting her head on the pillow.

Kate then proceeded to take a nice long shower. The hot water pounded onto her body, massaging her tired muscles. She and Castle were just too tall to sleep comfortably on a couch. She'll have to remember not to repeat that. Her mind was still on Castle as she exited and went through her nightly ritual of putting on lotions.

Settling down next to Arriana on her bed, she quickly sent him another text.

_You there? _

Barely five seconds later, her phone chimed, signalling a reply. She quickly turned it to silent, so she wouldn't accidentally wake Arriana.

_Sure. What's up? Wanna talk?_

She called him and it took only two rings before he picked up.

"Hey you, that was fast," he greeted.

"Yeah, I missed my best friend. I just had the most amazing day ever, and I wanted to tell my best friend all about it."

"Oh really?" he asked playfully. "Well I'm all ears, Detective."

"See there's this really great guy, and he's my partner, and I've been crushing on him for forever," she started, "and we got together today. It was the best thing ever."

"You don't say? I'm pretty jealous of this guy, stealing my best friend and all. Was he a good kisser? Is that why you're with him? You just couldn't say no to him after he kissed you, could you?" Castle joked back.

"Don't tell him this, but yeah, he's a pretty great kisser," Kate whispered back. "He doesn't have to worry about anyone else though, he flat out blows away all the competition."

"I'm sure he's glad to know that," Castle murmured through the phone. "So what are you doing?"

"I'm in bed," Kate replied softly.

"Really now?"

Rolling her eyes, Kate whispered back, "With my daughter, Castle. Get your mind out of the gutter. I'm in bed with my sick daughter, who is currently sleeping like a little innocent angel."

"Another time then, detective."

"I'll hold you to that. Have you spoken to Alexis? How's she taking the news?" Kate asked.

"Well, she seemed to take it pretty well. I sat down with her and spent some quality father-daughter time bonding after you left. It was good to just catch up with her again. I've been so busy recently, Kate, and she's just turning into this amazing woman right under my nose, and I'm so worried that if I blink or sneeze I'll miss it all," he prattled on.

"You're a great dad, Castle, and I know how you feel. I just want to document every little thing that Arriana does. I really want Alexis to be okay with us, though. Maybe when Arriana isn't sick anymore or when I have a day off I should spend more time with her, have an all-girls day or something," Kate suggested.

Even though Castle knew that Kate had already said that she would try her hardest to make this relationship work, it still surprised him each time she offered a bit more of herself. To make the effort to go the extra mile; especially since she was such a private person.

Trying to keep his voice steady, he whispered back, "Sure, that'll be great. I'll talk to Alexis about it. While we're on this topic, I think I'd like to spend more time with Arriana as well, if you don't think that's moving too fast. I know she's just a kid, so it's a different approach than with Alexis, but –"

"Rick," she interrupted his monologue, "Rick, you're rambling, but of course I'd love for you to spend more time with her. Do you want to come over tomorrow?"

"Yeah, that'd be great. Oh how many days did Gates clear you for? Do you need help watching Arriana? Cause I'd be more than happy to cover for you," he offered.

"You're such life saver, Rick. I got two days off from Gates, so I've still got tomorrow, but it would be great if you could watch Arriana for me the day after that. I've got this weekend off, so we could all spend time together."

"Sure thing. How long is her daycare closed for? If I recall correctly they normally close for ten days after an outbreak like this, right? I'll cover you for the next week as well, if you need," he offered.

"We'll work out the details later on, but that sounds about great to me."

"Are you sleepy? You sound tired," he remarked when her voice progressed to become softer and softer throughout their conversation.

"Yeah, kinda. I didn't really get a good sleep last night," she explained.

"Me neither. You should sleep. I'll see you tomorrow," he whispered.

"Goodnight, Rick."

"Goodnight."

Hanging up her phone, Kate charged it on her nightstand and turned off the lights as she curled next to her daughter, drifting off to a peaceful sleep.

* * *

True to his word, Castle turned up at her apartment the next day. Arriana began getting comfortable around him and wasn't as quiet or shy anymore. The day after that, Kate had to go in to work. Castle went over to her place early in the morning, giving her a good luck kiss as she headed to work. Hopefully there wouldn't be a body drop.

It was hard for the single mom to leave for work after spending three days being in with her daughter. To make things worse, Arriana decided to throw a tantrum just as Kate was leaving. Trusting Castle enough to let him handle Arriana how he saw fit, Kate kissed them both goodbye and quickly left for work before the images of her crying daughter could change her mind.

Esposito and Ryan were curious when Kate turned up at the precinct and Castle didn't show up with her daily cup of coffee when nine o'clock rolled by. When they asked, she just told them he said he had some things to handle and would be away from the precinct until the following week.

The detectives did their paperwork that morning, hoping there wouldn't be a murder in the city. However, body calls do not pay heed to anyone. It was right before lunchtime when the call came in.

The three detectives canvassed the scene. It seemed pretty simple, and they had a few good leads to run down. Back in the precinct, they definitely noticed Castle's absence when there was no one around to spew wild theories about the deceased victim.

Noticing that it got to the boys, Kate teased them, "Come on, boys. We've done this long before Castle came in spewing his wild theories. Don't make me tell him the two of you were like puppies who lost their master in his absence."

The boys shot back comebacks vehemently, as Kate had expected them to. It did get them out of their funk to begin running down leads and that was all Kate needed.

While eating a sandwich she grabbed downstairs, Kate glanced at the clock hanging on the bullpen wall. Time to take a break from going through their victim's financials. Pulling out her phone, she called Castle to check on how things were.

After talking to her daughter, she spoke to Castle, giving him a quick run down of the case since it seemed that he missed their daily action as well. Finally, she told him about the boys. Murmuring goodbye to both Castle and Arriana on the phone, Kate hung up with a brand new determination to catch this murderer.

The sooner they got him and throw him behind bars, the sooner Kate could go back to her daughter and Castle.

Unfortunately, it took another day before they had the right guy and filed all the paperwork necessary to build a solid case against him. But the moment she was done, Kate left the precinct, not to be back until Monday morning.

Alexis joined them at Kate's place for the weekend, and she was doing a marvelous job at distracting Arriana from her chicken pox. Now that she was recovering, the drying skin was even itchier than before. Kate had almost resorted to tying on mittens just to prevent her from scratching off the drying scabs.

All too soon the weekend was over. On Monday Kate dropped Arriana off at Castle's place before heading in to work. He was eager to train a new laser tag protégé now that Alexis was going off to college soon. The small girl was too excited with the prospects of such cool toys that she didn't notice Kate giving Castle a good bye kiss before slipping out the door.

Halfway through the day they made plans to spend dinner together at the loft. It was nice to have so many people eagerly awaiting her at the end of the day. It had just been her small family for so long that Kate had forgotten how it felt to be heading home to people. People who she cared about and cared for her in return.

The days morphed by quickly, and Kate normally made it through to work uneventfully. In the evenings when she headed home with Arriana, Kate would be amused by the constant chattering of her daughter as she proudly regaled her day. Somehow Castle seemed to be able to find new things to do with her every day, and Arriana was loving it. Kate in turn was just overjoyed that her daughter took to Castle so well.

Each night she would call him and continue talking to him until one of them forced the other to sleep. Even though they spent less time together, each felt as though they were getting closer to each other.

On Monday morning Kate noticed that her daughter was being uncharacteristically quiet as she was driving to her school. "Hey honey, it's your first day back in school, aren't you excited to see Ms Jane and all your friends?" Kate tried to get her daughter pumped up and excited to be back. However, she just shrugged and looked out the window. Hmm.

Kate gave her a kiss on the forehead before handing her over to the teacher. Kate looked on worriedly as her daughter slowly trudged up the steps into the building, finally disappearing behind the doors. Kate shook her head to clear her thoughts. Arriana would be fine, and she had to get to work. Nonetheless, Kate had a quick word with the teacher to keep an eye out for Arriana today, just in case.

* * *

At the precinct, Castle was already talking to the boys animatedly. Smiling when she walked past, he greeted, "Good morning, Detective Beckett. It's nice to be back. Your coffee is on your table."

"Morning, Castle. Nice to have my daily dose of coffee back," she teased, trying to act normal. Something must have been off though, as the boys began looking from Beckett to Castle and back to her again. Deciding to escape before they could try to piece anything together, Kate went over to her table to drop her things and enjoy her coffee.

It was another slow day in the precinct. They caught a murder the previous evening, so the warrants were just coming through. That meant a whole lot of data to be going through. However, before the hour was done, Kate got a phone call from Arriana's school.

It seemed that there was an incident during their morning break between two students. However, when the kids involved started crying, it irritated the rest of the class, most of whom were fresh in the post-recovery stage. Ms Jane reasoned that most of the children were not used to being back to school after they had spent the past few days with their families.

Their routine schedules were interrupted and some kids just take longer to get back to the way things were. Arriana, unfortunately, was one of them. She threw a tantrum when the rest of the class began crying and just wouldn't be consoled.

Besides that, one of the caretakers was out with food poisoning so the school was short on staff too. That was why Ms Jane strongly suggested for Kate to pick her up from school. She needn't worry, other kids had gone home as well, and Ms Jane assured her it was perfectly normal for young children to be more easily agitated and anxious after being separated from their family following a prolonged duration spent together.

Kate delegated her leads to the boys, saying she'd be back in an hour, and that she'd do the tracing and going through records for the boys instead. Although curious that she would volunteer to do grunt work, the boys agreed and went on with their jobs. You don't look a gift horse in the mouth. They would find out soon enough. After all, they were detectives.

Kate left the precinct with Castle in tow, explaining things to him in her car. The original plan was to drop off Castle and Arriana at either his place or hers, and she'd go back to the precinct. However, when she picked up Arriana the small girl had other plans of her own.

She refused to leave Kate's side. Even Castle could barely get the girl to say two sentences to him. It was very out of character for her daughter to behave like that so Kate was in a conundrum. Kate's motherly instinct was to cuddle her daughter until all was well but she had to be back in the precinct soon.

It was Castle who suggested she take Arriana to the precinct. After all, they were having a slow day, and who knows, maybe Arriana would feel better being around her mom. And when she broke out of this mood she was in, Castle could bring her to his place if Kate didn't want the small girl hanging around the precinct.

Seeing sense in his suggestion, Beckett agreed albeit with a hint of apprehension. When she got to the precinct, Arriana refused to walk, wanting to be carried by her mother. Kate complied because she was still a tad worried about her daughter's behavior.

Might as well get this over and done with soon as she can. Castle helped her carry Arriana's backpack as they entered the precinct and rode the lift up to the homicide floor. Time to face the music.

* * *

A/N: Cue the music. Dun dun dunnnnn. Please review!:)


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: It's not the 8th of March yet but Happy women's day :) and I'd like to give a special shout out to all of you who have ever favorite, alerted and/or reviewed - you guys make my day! Have some Beckett brownies on me :D

Disclaimer: Still not mine!

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

The bullpen was pretty quiet when they stepped out of the lift and Beckett was thankful for small wonders. A precinct was hardly a place for a small kid and things could be overwhelming at times.

Kate made straight for the captain's office while Castle headed to her desk. "Detective. This is a surprise," Captain Gate stated when one of her best homicide detectives entered her room carrying a young child.

"Sir, this is my daughter, Arriana. Something came up at her school today so I had to pick her up. I hope it's all right if she stays with me for the day, since I'm running traces and going through records. I'll make sure she behaves, Sir," Beckett explained.

"Well, I must say, she looks a lot like you. Why is there no record of her in your background?"

Kate hedged hesitantly, "Well Sir, actually no one but my father knew about Arriana and I tried to keep things quiet. The late Captain Montgomery knew as well, but it must have slipped my mind. It hasn't affected my job and it won't, Sir."

"Very well then, since this was an emergency. Just make sure you do your job and the kid can stay."

Kate began thanking we captain, but was interrupted quickly.

"The precinct is no place for a child, detective, and I hope you know that. I will allow it this time, but do not make this a common occurrence."

"Thank you, Sir. I understand," she said firmly, looking her captain in the face, trying to convey her gratitude for the understanding shown by Captain By-The-Book Iron Gates.

"And you might want to take down some of the pictures on your murder board, Beckett. For the girl," Captain Gates added.

Nodding in acquiesce, Becket was then dismissed. She made a beeline for her table. Already there was a hushed buzzing in the air. Kate ignored it to settle Arriana in Castle's chair. Word would travel on its own fast enough with or without her acknowledgment of it.

"Here, check this out and tell mommy what numbers are in there," Beckett told the small girl, handing her badge over to distract the girl.

She began to explore every minute detail in earnest. Kate took the chance to take down the pictures from the murder board and passed it to Castle to stash somewhere under paperwork.

"Sorry for stealing your chair," Beckett apologized, "Could you pull another one over?"

Beckett took out a coloring book and some color pencils from Arriana's school bag. Handing them to her daughter, Beckett explained that she had to keep quiet and be a good girl as mommy worked. Otherwise, she'd have to leave.

Arriana nodded at her mom, and proceeded to color a butterfly in her book. Caste had pulled a chair over and began coloring with Arriana. The boys chose that moment to return to the precinct.

"Yo, Beckett, CSU reports are in. Whoa, Castle, since when did you spawn another one?" Esposito asked when he looked up from the report in his hand long enough to notice the small girl coloring at Beckett's table.

"Yeah, Castle, we don't do bring-your-child-to-work days in the precinct," Ryan took a jab. "Actually boys," Beckett cut in, "she's mine. Espo, Ryan, meet Arriana. Arriana, say hi to Uncle Esposito and Uncle Ryan."

"Mini Beckett?!" Esposito exclaimed in shock. "How nice of you," Beckett replied wryly, before turning to her daughter, saying, "Arri, don't ever greet people that way okay? Mommy actually brought you up civilized."

Beckett's smirked as Esposito open and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, with no words coming out. "Hi Uncle Ryan and Uncle Espospitito," the young Beckett greeted shyly, before heading over to bury her head into her mother's shoulder.

"Hello Arriana, it's very nice to meet you," Ryan announced charmingly, trying to rub it into Esposito's face as much as possible. He added, "You can call me Uncle Kevin or Uncle Kev."

Esposito butt into the conversation, stealing the lime light once more with "So sorry about that, Arriana, I was just so shock because Beck- er, your mother, never brought you here before. You can call me Uncle Javi. It's very nice to meet you."

The small girl peeked out from between her bangs to look at the two new people her mommy had just introduced. Feeling shy with all the sudden attention, she buried her face once more into her mom.

"Okay, show's over, boys. I'll answer all your questions when we get off work. Dinner at Remy's, alright? Back to work now or the captain will kick our asses out of here. What did CSU say?" Beckett asked, back to work mode.

"Sheesh, language, Beckett," Esposito chided jokingly. "CSU came back with two sets of prints, and one of those belong to our vic's boyfriend. Ryan and I'll pick him up. Tox report should be done soon. Wanna check in with Lanie?"

Oh right, Lanie. Her best friend would _not_ take the news well. At all. "Okay, why don't you guys go check in with Lanie, and invite her along for dinner tonight?"

"On it, Boss," Ryan quipped as he and Esposito left the table, stealing a few glances back discreetly.

"Well that went well," Castle stated. "Yeah, but can I skip dinner?" Beckett retorted. "It's going to be worse than the Spanish inquisition, especially with Lanie. She's gonna _kill_ me for keeping this from her. Anyway, back to work."

She looked from Castle, giving him a smile, to her little girl, untangling her hands and persuading her to go back to coloring now that her little audience was gone.

For the most part, Arriana was content to boss Castle around, telling him what color should go where and Beckett was thankful she could be preoccupied. At one point Castle teasingly whispered to Beckett, "My isn't she a bossy one. Wonder where she got that from?"

One o'clock rolled by and Kate took out the lunch she had packed into Arriana's bag. Bringing it into the break room, she quickly heat it up using the microwave. Beckett then called Arriana over to have her lunch.

Seeing that her mother wasn't eating anything, the younger Beckett fed her mom a spoonful of her food. Castle came in and caught that adorable sight. "Shouldn't it be the other way round?" he joked, sitting down with the Becketts. Arriana's reaction was to feed him as well.

When she was done, Beckett let her daughter do some writing exercises. Another hour rolled by and the five year old began to nod off. Beckett gathered her and carried her into the break room. It was time for her nap. Unfortunately, the break room couch would have to do, since the little girl still refused to leave her mother.

"I love you, baby girl," Beckett whispered, dropping a kiss onto her forehead. "Mommy's going to be right outside at my table when you wake up okay? Sweet dreams."

During that time the toxicology report came back, and showed that the victim had been drugged. Esposito and Ryan had already picked up the boyfriend. Now all that they had to do was to crack him, easy peasy. Kate took point on the interrogation with Esposito.

Castle sat out just in case Arriana woke up from her nap. Fifteen minutes into the interrogation, Beckett had the boyfriend right where she wanted him. Esposito had laid out all the facts and evidence. Their perp was sweating and edgy. Now all Beckett had to do was to get him to confess.

Castle had been waiting on the other side of the mirror, looking into their progress when Ryan came in, announcing softly, "Look who I found? It's Castle!" The detective entered carrying Arriana. "I found her just as she woke up," he explained to Castle, "so I thought I'd bring her in here. Don't need her wandering around in the bullpen looking for Beckett."

Joining by Castle's side, the Irish detective then swiveled to let Arriana look into the interrogation room. Kate had been pacing but now she put both hands on the table, and told the boyfriend firmly, "It's over, Brown. You might as well sign a confession, and we'd tell the DA you co-operated, lighten your sentence."

"Wow, look at your mommy go. She really is something, huh?" Ryan said to Arriana while bouncing her. Arriana watched on in amazement and wonder, eyes wide open – absorbing every detail of her mother in her glorious action.

"That she is," Castle unconsciously murmured in consent with Ryan's statement. The younger detective glanced at Castle and grinned.

Back in the interrogation room, the boyfriend hung his head in defeat as he eyed the statement placed in front of him.

Arriana was getting restless in the observation room. Why hadn't her mom seen her? Somewhat confused, she went for the most comforting person in the room. Since Castle had spent so many days watching after her, the two of them had gotten pretty close to one another.

"Uncle Rick," she called out while stretching her hands toward him. The adults took the cue and soon enough, she was transferred into Castle's arms. The two detectives were picking up the signed statement and cuffing the guy, so Ryan looked at his watch and announced, "And we're done. Half an hour on the clock, it should be just enough to fill up the paperwork. I'll let Beckett know you're in here."

He caught his boss as she was stepping out of the room, and told her, "They're in the obs room. I'll bring Brown down with Espo."

Beckett thanked him gratefully and went inside the observation room. "Hi, baby girl," she greeted enthusiastically upon setting sights on her precious little daughter being held in her partner's arms. Arriana immediately wriggled to get free and Castle promptly let her down.

The head full of light brown curls collided into her mom's legs and she hugged on tightly. Beckett laughed and bent down to pick her up, walking over to Castle. Seeing him so at ease with her daughter triggered something in Beckett. Her heart was just so full of emotion at the time that it took all of her control to not spontaneously combust right then and there.

She settled for a simple breathy "Hi" but what she couldn't voice she conveyed through the look she gave him. Castle stutteringly took shallow breaths. He had never seen Kate being so open and unguarded in the precinct. Ever.

"What I'd do to kiss you now," he whispered into her ear. "Ditto," she replied softly, before turning back to Arriana who was practically bouncing in her arms trying to get her attention.

"Mommy, I was sleeping in the room with the coffee, and then I woke up, and Uncle Kevin was there, and he brung me here, and then I see you mommy!" She gushed excitedly.

_Wow, a nap sure does wonders for a kid's mood, _Kate thought. "And then what happened?" she asked excitedly, obliging her little girl. "You walked a lot mommy, and you were so loud! And you put your hands on the table, and Uncle Happy was there too!"

The adults smiled as Arriana messed up Esposito's name yet once more. But the little girl didn't even notice, and ploughed on. "And then Uncle Rick carried me, and, and, you left the room mommy, and you came here to see me!" she exclaimed happily.

"That I did, sweetie. Now, mommy still has some work to do, but do you want to walk around and explore with Uncle Rick?" she asked. It was pretty late in the day, so she wouldn't mind it if Arriana wanted to go walk around with Castle.

"He knows where the vending machines are, and by the time you get back, mommy will probably be done and we can all go for dinner together," Beckett tried to persuade her.

"All of us? Including Lexie and Uncle Rick and Uncle Kevin and Uncle Happy?" she asked excitedly. The five year old had gotten to calling Alexis by that nickname, and the teen in turn had begun calling her Arri, so that they would rhyme.

Kate looked at Castle. Darn, she forgot to ask if Alexis would like to join them. Castle mouthed "Don't worry, I'll check with Alexis." Mouthing back a quick "thanks", she returned her attention to Arriana.

"Uncle Rick will ask Alexis if she wants to join us, but yes, the rest of them are joining us for dinner, plus another one of mommy's best friend. You'll get to meet her tonight. So, can I leave you with Uncle Rick?"

Nodding enthusiastically, Arriana linked her hand with Castle's. Kate headed to her table while Castle led the small girl skipping happily toward the vending machines.

At five o'clock, three detectives, a writer, and a little girl made their way down. At the lobby they were met with a medical examiner who had been waiting the whole day to lay eyes on the small girl everyone had been talking about.

Luckily, Arriana was still bubbly and in a wonderful mood so she was much more sociable, talking animatedly to her new uncles. Kate gave a timid smile to Lanie, knowing that she was still safe so long as there would be other people acting as buffer, protecting her from Lanie.

They entered Remy's and headed to their usual table in the corner. Alexis joined them soon after as she came from the loft. Arriana was so excited to see her new friend that she excitedly introduced Alexis to Aunt Lanie, Uncle Kevin, and Uncle Happy.

"Uncle Happy? What?" Esposito asked when he heard the little girl saying that. "Or you can call him Uncle Espospitsoto?" Arriana quickly told Alexis, adding in a whisper that wasn't all that soft, "I not really know very well. I thinks that's what mommy said in the morning."

"Kid, say it with me. Uncle Javi. Ja–vi. With a V, not happy, okay? Javi," Esposito tried teaching the small girl again, while the others snickered away. "You're not happy?" Arriana asked innocently.

Ryan slapped him on his back, as his partner floundered to answer the small girl. "Of course I'm happy. But that's not my name, okay? My name is Uncle Javi. Uncle Javi," he said, pointing to himself, "is happy," he finished with a smile. "See?" Esposito continued, still smiling. Frankly he looked quite deranged.

"Mommy, he making my head hurts," the small girl told her mom, frowning. The table erupted in laughter.

"Uncle Javi isn't doing a very good job, is he?" Kate teased. Turning back to Arriana, she showed her the kid menu with the pictures so she could pick her meal. They soon placed their orders and the waitress cleared the menus.

"So, Mama Beckett, care to share?" Lanie prodded when they settled down. After all, that was the burning question on everyone's minds. "Mama Beckett?" Kate asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we decided to call you that," Ryan told her matter-of-factly. "And that's mini Becks," Esposito added. "Don't try to change the topic. Spill, Kate," Lanie ordered.

"What's there to say? Arriana's five; I had her before coming to homicide. No one else knew besides my dad," but she added in her mind _except for Castle who found out two weeks ago_.

Arriana had been animatedly chatting with Alexis, telling her all about the day she had in the precinct. "That doesn't look like it," Lanie said, indicating the two girls chatting away with her head. "How could you hold out on me?! I'm your best friend!"

"Castle kinda found out by accident, being the nosy busybody that he is. Look, after he knew, I wanted to tell you guys as well but I didn't know how to do it. I didn't want to just go _oh by the way I've got a five year old daughter that none of you know about_," Kate explained.

"Girl, I've been to your place so many times, how is it possible that I didn't know?"

Before Kate could answer, Esposito cut in, saying, "Well you're not very observant, are you?"

"Hey, I'm not a detective. Aren't you guys detectives? Isn't it your _job_ to detect things? Like the fact that the boss you see every day has a huge secret?" Lanie shot back at him.

"Ooo, burn," Ryan and Castle both said at the same time. Esposito just gave his partner a look that said _seriously? You're in this with me man._

Two waitresses came by bearing their drinks, and they passed the tall glasses around the table. Kate then continued, "Anyway, to answer your previous question, Lanie, Arriana mostly stayed with my dad until recently. Now that she's older, she can stay at the day care after school for longer periods, and I'd pick her up after work. My dad would still pick her up on days that I'd have to work late though, but I try to cut down on that."

"You owe us for holding out, Kate. Thanks for dinner," Lanie said nonchalantly, with the boys quickly adding "Yeah, thanks for dinner, Boss" and "Thanks for the food Mama Beckett".

Kate rolled her eyes and smiled wryly at them. She nodded, more than happy to pay for dinner if it meant she was off the hook. The food came along shortly thereafter and thankfully they moved on to other topics. Kate breathed a sigh of relief. She survived!

* * *

A/N: Review :) Pretty please?


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Don't belong to me! I just borrow 'em :) Arriana's all mine though. Wheee.

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

Another week had gone by in relative peace. Kate and Rick alternated spending time at his place and hers, and the both of them got closer to each other's daughter. But tonight, it was time for Alexis and Rick to get to know another member of the Beckett family.

Martha was still away on vacation with her latest beau whom she had met courtesy of the last musical she wrapped up two weeks prior, so she hasn't been around to add "color" to the new couple's life.

However, Jim Beckett had just returned from his fishing trip and he was itching to meet his granddaughter and check in on his girl. He called her yesterday, and she invited him over for dinner at her place, mentioning that she had news to share.

Kate had been worrying over dinner details the whole day. Jim Beckett had met Castle before, but that was as her partner. Now that they were in a relationship, Kate really wanted her father to approve and be happy for them.

She cooked the whole day long, and scrutinized over every little thing. Luckily, Castle had been calling throughout the day, checking in on her and basically keeping her from losing her head. They were partners in this together.

Over at the Castle household, Alexis was the one keeping Castle in check. He was doing a mighty fine job of keeping Kate grounded, but what she didn't know was that he was a mess himself. Since Kate already had enough to worry about, he didn't want to add another thing on her plate.

It had been years since the last time Castle had to do the whole meet-the-parents thing, or in this case, meet-the-father. He wanted to make an especially good impression, because he was certain that Kate was _The One_.

So that was what his daughter was for. She helped him pick his outfit, assuring him over and over again that he looked fine and she even went so far as to let him try out his jokes on her. Alexis was, in other words, a godsend.

* * *

Kate had asked her father to come over fifteen minutes earlier so that she would be able to break the news to him without an audience. She didn't want him to feel blindsided.

All too soon, Kate's doorbell rang. Opening the door, she greeted her father with a kiss to the cheek before letting him bear hug Arriana. Arriana was Kate's secret weapon. Not only would Jim Beckett have to try to remain as civil as possible in front of his only granddaughter, Kate hoped that when he saw how close Arriana had gotten to the Castles, Jim would be accept the news more openly.

After sharing a few stories about his fishing trip, Jim asked his daughter, "So what's the big news? Out with it, Katie, you look like you're about to pass out at any moment. It isn't healthy to worry your poor father at this age."

Taking a deep breath to steel herself, Kate decided to do it quickly. Just like ripping off a band-aid. "Castle and I got together. Last week. He and Alexis will be over soon to join us for dinner," Kate spit out in one breath.

"As in Richard Castle, the author you and your mother have been in love with for years and your partner for the past four years? The guy with a teenage daughter? That Richard Castle?" Jim asked.

"Yes." Kate stared at her father, trying to gauge his reaction. This was nerve wrecking!

"Hmm."

Kate was still holding her breath. Won't her dad just give her a proper reaction? The suspense was killing her!

Jim Beckett inwardly smiled. The moment he heard his little Katie complaining about the author since he started following her four years ago he knew they would end up together. The first impression he got from meeting Richard Castle years ago was pretty pleasing. And the fact that he had been Johanna's favorite author helped to sway things in his favour.

But it was his job as her father to be intimidating when meeting the boyfriend for the first time. Besides, he liked seeing Katie all nervous and holding her breath. The last time that happened was when she told him she was pregnant and look how well that turned out. Arriana was the little bundle joy that had kept them strong and together as a family.

A knock interrupted the tense atmosphere. "That would be Castle and Alexis. I… I'll go get that," Kate said awkwardly, leaving to welcome her guests.

"Kate, hi," Rick greeted her with a kiss to the cheek. Kate greeted Rick and Alexis in turn. Not seeing her dad yet, he asked, "Have you told him?"

"Just did."

"And?"

"And he said hmm," Kate whispered, as she took the bottle of sparkling juice from him. No alcohol, good, he remembered about her dad.

"Good hmm or bad hmm?" Rick shot back.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't-"

Just then Arriana came barreling from the living room into Rick and Alexis. Jim Beckett came into view, trailing behind her.

Show time.

"Castle, Alexis, meet my father. Dad, you know Castle, my err, boyfriend," she stuttered over the word, "and his daughter, Alexis."

That was the first time she had ever used the word boyfriend to introduce Castle, and her heart skipped a beat. "Nice to meet you, Mr Beckett," Alexis greeted politely and Castle hurriedly followed suit, exchanging a handshake with the older Beckett.

Thankfully Castle seemed to hold his own without being disrespectful when exchanging handshakes with her father. What she did _not_ know was how nervous he actually was.

_Crap, I think my palms are sweaty. God, I hope he doesn't notice it_, Castle thought. Unfortunately, the older Beckett seem to have shot a quick glance to their hands a moment before letting go.

"Likewise. Please, call me Jim," he said, cutting the nervous kid some slack. Although a grown man by far, Jim was pleased to know that Richard Castle was actually nervous about meeting him. It shows that he cared about Kate and their relationship.

Kate led them into her living room, and began setting the dinner table. From the dining room, she could hear their voices floating over as they exchanged pleasantries and talked. There was some laughter too, so they should be getting along pretty well.

So far so good, Kate noted pleasantly. Calling them over for dinner, Kate was pleased to see that Alexis was interacting with her father too. It seems that they were talking about Castle.

When they were seated and Kate had filled their plates, she asked Alexis, "So, what has your father done this time?

"I've been exchanging emails with this girl, Tessa, for quite some time, and she's coming over for a few days to check out universities. I'd like to meet up with her and know her better, but my dad thinks it's a bad idea, and he won't let me do it," Alexis explains.

"You never know what people are like in real life, honey. They could be completely different from their online persona," Castle defended, adding, "As a father, Jim, I'm sure you know where I come from."

Jim Beckett nodded slowly as he chewed his food. "Come on, dad, don't you trust my judgment? Don't you think I'd know if I was exchanging emails with a creep this whole time?" Alexis defended.

"Of course I trust you, pumpkin. It's _them_ I don't trust. There are a lot of crazies in this world."

"I'll be meeting her in a café in broad daylight. If I meet her in person and i find that she has a few screws loose, I'll make up an excuse and get out of there," Alexis reasoned. "What do you think, Kate? Please talk some sense into my dad."

All heads at the table swiveled to her as one. Putting down her fork, Kate said, "Well, when you put it that way, I don't see what's the harm actually, Castle. Alexis has a good head on her shoulders."

Castle groaned in defeat. "Don't be so glum, Rick. Believe me, you're lucky your daughter isn't like Katie here. She was a wild one. Sooner or later you gotta let 'em make their choices and learn from their mistakes. Only thing you can do is to be there for them when they need you."

"I'm still getting Ryan and Esposito to run a background check," Castle warned. Kate smirked. He knew she wouldn't run it for him. Actually, she was going to do it herself, but only let Castle know if anything pertinent popped up. However, it was nice to see him in his protective-father mode.

Jim smiled. Kate had Rick all wrapped around her little pinkie. "Get use to it, Rick. You won't believe half the things Johanna talked me into accepting," he said.

Although he was a little petulant at the turn of events, Rick couldn't help but see the silver lining. Papa Beckett thought he and Kate actually stood a chance to turn out like Jim and Johanna!

"Thanks so much, Kate," the red head happily gushed.

After desert, Kate put Arriana to bed. Then, Alexis helped her clear the dinner table while the males continued their conversation, moving to the living room.

"I didn't want to say this in front of your dad, because he's worried enough, but you'll be careful when you meet Tessa right? I mean, I don't want to overstep, but some of his reasons were justified," Kate asked.

"Of course, I'll be alert, Kate. And don't worry, you're not overstepping."

After a minute or so, the teen added softly. "Besides, it's nice to have someone who can relate to me caring for me. I mean, my dad is great and all, but he's a guy and there's only so much he can try to understand. And my mom, well, she's never really been there."

"Hey, I'm always here for you, Alexis," Kate said, taking a break from washing the dishes. "And don't you ever hesitate to call me, okay? No matter how small you might think it is, I'm always here. Even if I'm swamped with work, I'll always have time for you.

"If anything feels off or things go off in a different direction when you meet Tessa, you can always call me if you don't want to call your dad, okay? You've got my number right?"

Nodding, the teen gave Kate an impulsive hug. Kate took a moment to squeeze her back.

"Now, let's finish these few dishes so we can head out and see what the guys are up to," Kate suggested, lightening the atmosphere.

They all continued talking for a bit in Kate's living room before Jim took his leave, but not before making plans to play golf with Rick the following weekend. After he left, Alexis excused herself to use the bathroom and the couple was alone at last. For a while anyway.

Rick gathered Kate into a hug and she inhaled his scent deeply. "I think that went pretty okay," Rick ventured.

"Mmhmm. You were amazing," Kate murmured. "Do we have to repeat this all over again when your mother gets back? Can't you just text her or something?" She joked.

Castle laughed throatily. "I'll get Alexis to do it," he joked back, and this time Kate laughed along as well.

"Nahh, you did this for me, I want to do it for you too," she said earnestly.

He kissed her chastely on the lips, and said, "We'll face that together when Martha comes back. Let's enjoy this for now."

"Sounds like a plan."

She smiled and pulled him in for another kiss.

Minutes later, they were interrupted by some soft throat clearing. Seems that they had forgotten about Alexis. The adults sheepishly broke apart.

Since it was already getting late, the Castles left for their home too.

Lying in her bed, both physically and emotionally drained, Kate reveled in the success of dinner. What a day it had been!

* * *

A/N: Thoughts?


	10. Chapter 10

A/N:Here's an Alexis-centric one for you lovelies... I think I should put a warning or something though... but I don't wanna give it away.. _Something_ not so pleasant kinda happens to Alexis. Oh just go ahead and read on...

Disclaimer: They're all mine! Okay fine, they're not. Pfft.

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

Alexis woke up feeling fresh and ready for the day. After spending the previous night in various degrees of excitement, she finally fell asleep. And today was the day she was finally going to meet Tessa.

They began exchanging emails months ago, when they were both college hunting. Tessa was going to be a psychology major. They had clicked instantly over the web and Alexis hoped that when they met in real life today neither party would be disappointed.

She had picked out her outfit the previous night with some of Kate's input, so she didn't need to worry about that today. Checking that her phone was charged one last time, Alexis sent her dad a text before heading out.

Her phone buzzed with a text when she got to the lobby.

_Be safe, honey. Text me when you meet her. Don't forget the safe phrase. Kate says to have fun :)  
_

Alexis took the subway and arrived at the mutually agreed upon café with five minutes to spare. Not seeing anyone matching Tessa's description, Alexis took a seat by the window and ordered a drink.

A few minutes later, a girl who must have been Tessa approached her table. "Are you Alexis?"

Standing up, Alexis greeted, "Yes I am. You must be Tessa?"

"I'm really glad to meet you! Thank god you're not some forty year old creep posing to be a teenager."

"Same! My dad was kinda worried as well," Alexis laughed. Tessa took a seat and ordered her drink. Both girls ordered some snacks since it was teatime. Alexis sent a text to her dad, incorporating the safe phrase he made up.

See, if Alexis thought she was in trouble, she would text _I'll be feeding the goldfish later_ and if things were going to be fine, she would text _I'll be feeding the birds later_. So even if an imposter tried to lie to Castle saying that Alexis had met up with Tessa and that things were going fine, they wouldn't know the safe phrase and Castle would know that something was up.

Yeah, her dad could get to a whole new level of paranoia sometimes.

The girls started talking, albeit with some awkwardness in the beginning, as was oft to happen when two people meet in real life for the first time. Tessa was more outgoing than her Internet persona but Alexis was fine with it.

It seems that Tessa was all about being spontaneous, getting new experiences and trying out new things ever since she graduated a week ago. Hence, coming to New York for a few days.

Two hours flew by without the girls noticing. Soon, the girls were ready to go check out a park that Tessa's friend recommended because it had amazing street performances in the evening.

Before they could call for the bill, two good-looking teenagers came over to their table, introduced themselves, and ordered drinks for "the two most beautiful ladies in the café". Alexis didn't even see where the drinks came from as it all happened so fast. She was a little hesitant to take the drink, but Tessa teased her.

"Aww come on, Alexis. When guys as good looking as them buy us drinks, we just _have_ to take them! Come on; live a little on the edge a little. We're young, and hot, and so are they!"

"It's just a drink for a pretty girl, if you want to leave after this, no hard feelings man," Ted, who was seating closer to Tessa, told her.

They seemed like decent enough people to Alexis. Besides, Alexis wanted to impress Tessa a little too. Succumbing to peer pressure, she picked up her glass.

"Cheers!" they called out.

The guys stayed on for a bit and chatted with them. Tessa roped them into going to the park with Alexis and herself. They called for the bill and quickly paid.

Throughout the whole encounter, Alexis felt her head slowly becoming heavier and her thoughts slightly sluggish. However, Tessa didn't seem to voice out any concern. Her gut told her something was wrong though. So before they left, Alexis excused herself, saying she had to go to the bathroom real quick.

Entering the toilet, Alexis called Kate. It might be nothing, but Kate _had_ told her to call if anything came up, even if it was a hunch. Better to be safe than sorry.

"Hey, Alexis, how're things going? You just missed your dad, he just stepped out to grab some snacks," Kate greeted on the phone.

"Kate? I don't feel so good. Some guys came over and bought us drinks, and I think they're pretty okay, and this is probably nothing, but my head's feeling kinda heavy. Don't tell my dad, but I think someone may have slipped something into our drinks, but Tessa seems fine," she quickly blurted out, not knowing how much time she had.

"Okay, stay calm, Alexis. Where are you now?" Kate asked quickly, walking over to the boy's table. "Trace Alexis' phone, now. No one says anything to Castle."

"Erm, I'm at Bern's Café, but we're heading over to the park. They've got really pretty street performances. Reaaaaally pretty."

"Alexis, stay with me. Whatever you do, don't hang up. I need you to focus, okay? Which park are you heading to? Tell me the name," Kate tried to stay calm, but she was getting really worried. She was almost positive that Alexis had been drugged.

"The park with the really pretty performances," Alexis whined out.

Just then, the door to the unisex bathroom opened. Noel, the other guy entered. "What's taking so long, Alexis? Ted and Tessa are waiting for you out on the street. Let's bounce!"

Bounce. That sounds fun. Alexis chucked her phone into her bag and giggled, leaving the bathroom with Noel. There was something she was doing before, but it hurt her head to think. Listening to Noel seems like a better idea. Squashing any other thoughts out of her head, Alexis left the café.

Time to bounce!

* * *

Back in the precinct, Kate was shouting into her phone. "Alexis? Alexis! Are you there? Can you hear me?!"

The only bright side now was that Alexis didn't end the call when she chucked her phone into her bag. "Got it," Esposito exclaimed. "She's downtown."

"Okay, Ryan, come with me. She's on the move, Espo. I need you to keep Ryan and I updated. I'm pretty sure she's been drugged, and we're going to go pick her up," Kate said quickly. She and Ryan holstered their guns and made to go.

"What about Castle?" Esposito asked. Damn. She forgot about that.

"Tell him I had to run some things with Ryan. Tell him to go on a coffee run or something. Don't let him know what's going on; don't tell him just yet."

"You sure 'bout that, Beckett?" Ryan asked. Running a hand through her hair, she answered with a frown.

"Yeah, Alexis trusted me and she doesn't want him to know just yet. I'll let him know later. Let's go."

They took Kate's car and she stuck the gumball to help their progress through New York's streets. Ryan put his phone on loudspeaker, keeping in touch with Esposito.

They heard him lying to Castle and Castle leaving the precinct shortly after. Kate's phone chimed with a text. It was Castle.

_Espo sent me on a coffee run which reminded me that I need to go get some groceries too. You alright if I leave early instead?_

She handed her phone to Ryan and told him to type a reply for her as she dictated.

_Yeah. Busy now. Talk to you later._

"Damn," Esposito swore. "Call just ended. I'll get her location by pinging off cell towers. It won't be as accurate, but I'll get you as close as possible."

Kate and Ryan headed to her last known location anyway so they would be closer to Alexis when Esposito found her.

"She stopped moving. They're just up ahead of where you are. There isn't much around there except for a few abandoned construction sites and a seedy motel nearby. My guess is that's where they are. It's called Foxy Deals," he conveyed over the phone.

It didn't help that they were caught in traffic. Seems like an accident just happened up ahead. "How far ahead is the motel, Espo?" Kate asked when the cars didn't part for her, because there just wasn't room to maneuver.

"Two hundred meters from where you are, on your left."

"Let's go," Kate said, driving her car onto the sidewalk. At this rate, they'd get there faster by running to the motel. There's no knowing how long it'd take for the traffic to start moving again.

The two detectives raced down the street, and came upon Foxy Deals on their left, as Esposito had said, soon enough. Heading straight to the counter, Kate hit the bell a few times in rapid procession.

A gum-chewing teen ambled out from the door. "NYPD," Kate said, flashing her badge, "did you see two pairs of teenagers coming through? One of the girls was a redhead."

"I don't know, ma'am, lots of people come in and out," she drawled, chewing noisily.

"Try remembering," Kate said steely.

Ryan could see that Kate was about to punch her in the face so he quickly stepped in. "Two male teenagers, they have a room here. Seem like the kind who like to go on the higher side, might have been over with drunken girls mostly. What rooms are they in?"

"One of the boys was called Ted," Kate supplied, remembering it vaguely from the conversation she had on the phone with Alexis.

"You might wanna try three-oh-seven? Corridor on the right, second last room on the left," gum-chewing-girl said, blowing a bubble when she was done.

Kate and Ryan raced up the stairs. Running to the room, they announced, "NYPD! Open up!"

Kate waited all of two seconds before kicking in the door. She swarmed in with Ryan, guns at the ready. Seeing that the girl on the couch was a blond, Kate raced over to the couple on the bed. Ryan ran over to the couch and pulled the couple apart.

Kate pulled the guy off the bed, and seeing Alexis who was barely conscious lying there made her snap. She threw him on the ground and cuffed him with way more force than necessary.

"What's the big idea?!" the boys yelled out. Pulling out a packet of pills from the other guy's pocket, Ryan announced, "You're under arrest for drug possession." Cuffing the other guy, he read them their Miranda rights as Kate helped Alexis up. Both girls could barely stand so Kate sat them down and got them water.

Esposito had called the ambulance and they were on their way there. "What the hell did you give them? Tell me!" Kate ordered. She walked over to who was presumably Noel, since he had been with Alexis, and yanked his arms up, making him cry out in pain.

The boys quickly told her it was just Roofies. The medics arrived soon, and Kate told them whatever info she got from the boys. They quickly took blood samples as evidence before giving the girls a saline drip.

"Go, Beckett," Ryan told her, "Espo sent another team and they'll be here shortly to collect all evidence. You follow Alexis."

Nodding her thanks at him, she left with the medics and two girls to the hospital.

Both girls were unconscious in the ambulance. Kate rested her head between her hands, fingers pressing against her temple. She needed to tell Castle. Her dad would have to keep Arriana with him first.

Calling her dad, she quickly told him a very brief account of what happened, and asked him to keep Arriana with him in the mean time. She quickly talked to her daughter just to tell her she would be staying with Grandpa Jim for the night, trying to keep her voice light so that she wouldn't sense that something was amiss.

Arriana being the ever-intuitive little girl noticed something wrong in the air anyway. So, she asked her mom why she was staying over with Grandpa Jim when she hasn't done so in a very long time.

"Well that's just the thing, Arri, you haven't been over to Grandpa Jim's place for so long. Plus, he spent a whole week fishing and didn't get to see you, so Grandpa Jim really misses you," Kate told the white lie to her little girl.

"Okay mommy. I Love you, and don't worry, mommy, everything will come out shining like the sun tomorrow," Arriana said into the phone. She could tell that her mom was hiding something, but it seems that she didn't want to share.

"I love you too, baby girl, thanks," Kate replied, trying her hardest not to choke up. And was that an Annie reference somewhere? Arriana must've been watching Annie with her grandpa again or something.

Hanging up on her little girl, Kate stared at her phone. Now the hard call.

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A/N: Poor Alexis! :( I've got a few crazy hectic days coming up and your reviews would mean the world to me...


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: You guys are amazing! 100 reviews :D seriously, thank you SO much for all the kind words... they really helped me through this crazy time.

Disclaimer: You must be delusional if you think Castle and co. belong to me...

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**Chapter Ten**

"Hey, are you heading over?" Castle greeted the moment he answered Kate's call. There was silence on the other end. "Kate?" he asked.

"Yeah it's me, Castle. Look, I need you to come meet me at the Presbyterian Hospital," she told him without beating around the bush.

"What? Is everything alright? What happened, Kate? Are you okay?" he shot off in rapid procession, patting his pocket for his car keys. Damn. They weren't there. Castle rushed to the door, checking to see if he had hung his keys up. Not there either. He then rushed to the kitchen. There it was! He must've put it on the counter while he was putting away the groceries.

He grabbed his keys while listening to Kate. "No, no. I'm fine, Castle. It's Alexis." His stomach dropped.

"Alex- what the hell happened, Kate?!" he shouted into the phone. Subconsciously he knew that he shouldn't be shouting at Kate.

She wasn't in the wrong here. But he was worried. Terrified. His little girl was at the hospital. What happened? What was going on?

"Calm down, Castle. Come meet me at the hospital. I'm on my way there with her now. I'll tell you when you get here. Be safe, Castle," Kate said worriedly. She knew he was going to rush over the moment he knew Alexis was on her way to the hospital. The last thing Kate needed now was for him to get into an accident on his way over.

"I'll see you there, Kate," he said curtly, already slamming the door close behind him, it's resounding bang jarring the normally silent hallway. Damn it! What could be so bad that Kate couldn't tell it to him over the phone? The worst part about being an author was the wild imagination they had. Specializing in crime and walking into so many murder scenes with the NYPD only made things even worse for him.

Castle jumped from scenario to scenario, each one having a worse ending than the previous. His mind raced quickly through each gory scene as he rushed to the hospital. If he didn't get to the hospital right _Now_, he was going to go crazy.

Kate arrived at the hospital and filled up whatever paperwork she could for Alexis. She told the nurse to contact the NYPD and see if they could help reach Tessa's parents. Leaving her in the capable hands of one of the nurses, Kate went with Alexis.

When one of the younger nurses told Kate she couldn't go in with Alexis, she told her fiercely, "NYPD. She's one of my witnesses and I'm not letting her out of my sight!" Waving her badge in front of the nurse menacingly, Kate stared her down. After that no one tried stopping Kate.

Her phone lit up as Castle's image appeared. He was here so soon! Answering the call, she told him where to meet her. While he was heading over, a doctor explained to Kate, "As per routine for these kind of cases, we normally take evidence and assess the patients, and then carry out a rape kit. Since she is already eighteen, we don't need her parents' permission to carry it out. Due to the special circumstances, you may be present with her if her family member isn't here."

"What!" Castle bellowed, hearing only the last part of their conversation. "Alexis was raped?! What the hell happened?!"

"Castle, calm down. We don't know anything solid yet. I'll explain it to you later, but right now the doctors need to do their job, and Alexis is terrified. Do you want to be there with her, or…" She left the sentence hanging there, letting him make the decision. She was more than willing be there for Alexis just in case Castle couldn't pull himself together in time or if he just couldn't face it.

"We'll go in together," he said firmly, and that was that.

They entered the exam room together, following behind the doctor. A nurse was there by Alexis' side. Seeing his daughter there, lying in bed with an IV hooked up was almost more than Castle could bear. He stopped in his tracks and Kate almost walked into him.

Grasping his hand and squeezing it reassuringly, she led him forward to stand by Alexis' head. Words weren't needed to convey her thoughts – her eyes said it all. Surprisingly, someone as closed and guarded as Beckett sure could express a whole lot of emotion with just one look. They needed to be strong now – for Alexis.

"Daddy?" she murmured. His tears almost spilled over right then. Alexis hadn't called him Daddy since she was five. Patting her hair reassuringly, he battled to get his words out in a shaky breath. "I'm here, pumpkin, Daddy's here. Everything's going to be f- f-" he struggled to get the words out.

"Everything's going to be fine now," Kate said to her. "You're safe, Alexis, you're safe now," she said softly.

Stealing a glance at her partner, Kate saw him nodding at her, swallowing and taking a few breaths. "You're safe, pumpkin," he whispered into her hair.

The doctor began explaining to Alexis what was happening. She told her that she was drugged, and that they were going to carry out a rape kit. The doctor briefly explained the procedure to Alexis. Then, the nurse pulled a screen over, covering the lower half of Alexis' body.

Castle and Kate murmured soothing words to Alexis the whole time, trying to keep her calm. The exam was over very quickly though and Castle and Beckett left the room with the doctor to let the nurse clean up Alexis.

"Well?" Kate asked hesitantly, terrified of the answer.

"Based on my findings, your daughter doesn't show signs of a rape victim."

Both Castle and Beckett heaved a sigh of relief. The doctor continued on, explaining the full report would be given to the NYPD, but she could conclude that no, Alexis was not raped.

"However, most victims who undergo what she went through would still have a lot to deal with. Many of them get emotional scarring, and may need therapy, but some have no recollection and seem to do fine when they know that even though they don't remember anything, they weren't raped. So at least there's that safety net there. But every person reacts differently, so we'll just have to see how her recovery will be," the doctor explained.

They thanked the doctor, and the nurse came out to say Alexis was done. They entered the room and sat by her bedside, one on each side by her head. It wasn't long before Alexis fell asleep.

Looking at Kate, he whispered, "_Now_ do you want to tell me what the Hell happened?!"

Biting her lip, Kate gestured with her head for them to head to the window so they could talk further away. She didn't want to accidentally wake Alexis.

Time to come clean with him.

"She called me just now, right after you stepped out to get snacks. She thinks she was drugged, and she called me," Kate explained.

"How did she get drugged? And why didn't she call me? Why didn't _You_ tell me about this sooner? That was hours ago, Kate," he said heatedly.

"I don't know, she didn't go into details. She just think the guys may have slipped something into their drinks. I don't know why she didn't call you, but I'm glad she called me so that I could help her. She specifically told me not to let you know," she explained wearily.

"You had no right, Kate!"

His words hit her hard and deep, causing her to recoil in shock and hurt.

"I'm sorry. She trusted me, and I couldn't betray her trust at that time. Will you please let me finish the story without any more interruptions?"

When he remained silent, she continued.

"I had Esposito trace her phone while Ryan and I went to go get her. We located them at a seedy motel, and knocked in the door. We cuffed the boys and took them in on drug possession. Ryan stayed there, and I came over to the hospital with them.

"The moment we were on our way to the hospital, I called you. I filled in some forms when we got here, but I think you'd need to go through them again, and then you came just as Alexis was about to be examined." Kate finished, and the room was silent for a while.

"Kate, how– how could you? I- I trusted you, Kate. How could you betray me like that?!" Castle said vehemently, voice rising a little with his anger.

"I'm sorry, Rick. I'm so sorry. I just- I didn't know what to do. And Alexis trusted me, and I didn't want to break her trust," she finished lamely.

"And it was fine to break _mine_?! She's MY daughter, Kate. Mine!" he shouted back at her.

Kate hung her head, ashamed and silent, tears tracking down her face.

"I just… I can't look at you right now, Kate," he whispered. His emotions were all over the place, he was in a mess, and he didn't want to say something he didn't mean and end up hurting Kate. More so than he had already done anyway.

"No," Alexis' weak voice floated over. His shouting woke her up. "Don't scold Kate, dad. It was my idea," she said weakly as the adults rushed to her bedside. Kate had tear streaks running down her face.

"I should go," she told Alexis, turning to leave.

"No. Stay, please," Alexis rasped out, before her eyes loss focus and she drifted off to sleep again.

"You stay with her," she offered the bedside chair to Castle, telling him, "I'll just be outside if she needs me." She still hadn't looked him in the face, but he caught her wiping her tears discreetly as she left the room.

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A/N: Alexis needs your reviews! Yes, i am unashamedly using Alexis to get reviews ;p


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: You guys are the most amazeballs readers ever :D thanks to you guys my friends think I'm weird or something for doing random happy dances whenever I get a review or favourite or alert throughout the day... Your reviews make me think of lots of new issues that i've never really thought about all that much before :) Still iffy about this chapter but I hope you guys enjoy it anyway...

Disclaimer: Not mine

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**Chapter Eleven**

Kate leaned against the wall after closing the door behind her. Her phone buzzed. It was a text from Esposito.

_How's Alexis? We can get her statement tmr, but we need yours now. We'll head over to the hospital if you can't come to the precinct. _

Kate took in a deep breath. She had to hold it together; there were still things to do. She'd take care of herself later. She text him a quick reply, saying Alexis was fine and sleeping, as well as asking them to come over for her statement, then she headed to the toilet to wash her face.

While waiting for the detectives to arrive, she called her father quickly to give him an update of things. Then, she talked to her daughter. Fifteen minutes on the phone with Arriana seemed to be just the trick to hold herself together. When she saw the detectives heading over, she murmured a soft goodbye to her daughter. Kate stood to join the boys and they headed to a quiet place to get her statement.

* * *

Back at Jim Beckett's place, Arriana stared at the phone long after her mother had hung up. Something was very, very wrong. Her mommy sounded all wrong, and she _k__new_ that she could make things better for her mommy. She just had to convince Grandpa Jim to bring her over to mommy. Time to put those persuasion skills to good use!

* * *

The boys took her statement and then dropped by to see Castle for a bit before leaving. They still had things to do in the precinct even though it was already late. But that's what you did when one of your own got hurt. You work doubly hard.

The boys who did this to Alexis and Tessa won't be getting off the hook easily. Ryan and Esposito were bringing as many charges as possible against them, and the fact that Tessa was still a month shy of eighteen, and hence still considered a minor, made those charges heavier still.

Now that Kate was all alone, she headed out to the gardens. It was dark out, but there were lamps around and she could protect herself if need be. She needed the fresh air anyway. Kate sat on one of the benches and finally allowed herself to break down. She silently fought for small gasps of air to enter her lungs that seemed to have permanently constricted bronchioles, but soon her whole body was heaving as her silent cries wreaked through.

It was all her fault. She was the one who convinced Castle to let Alexis meet her friend. She was the one who chose to keep things from Castle. She was the one who couldn't get to Alexis in time. She bore responsibility for all the trauma and therapy the girl would need.

It was her sworn duty to protect the people of New York, and she couldn't even protect one girl.

Everything that had happened was all her fault.

She had betrayed her partner; she had hurt him. She failed him both as a partner _and_ a girlfriend.

Alexis was hurt – all because of her. She was a terrible friend.

She couldn't even be there for her own daughter – to take care of her, to tuck her in at night. She was a failure as a mother too.

Was there _anything_ else left for her to fail at?

Those thoughts rained down on her over and over again, pounding her into an ever diminishing, crumbling, small ball, and Kate cried her heart out for all the wrongs she did. How could things get so bad so quickly?

She cried for all the people she hurt.

She cried over and over again.

Suddenly a shrill tone pierced the otherwise silent night air. Her phone was ringing. It was her dad. She ignored it – she couldn't face him now. Eventually the ringing stopped, only to begin again. Kate picked up the phone. "Yeah dad?"

"Where are you, Katie. I'm here. Castle said you were just in the corridor but I don't see you."

"I'm in the gardens, dad."

"I'll be there."

He hung up, heading that way with Arriana. On his way to the gardens, he explained to Arriana, "Mommy's very sad now, Arri. But that's okay, we all get sad. And that's where family comes in. We're there for each other when we're sad. That's why you asked me to bring you over, right?"

"I can help mommy, grandpa. I know it. Mommy needs me," she said softly but confidently. There was that Beckett streak in her. He reached the gardens and put Arriana down. Holding her hand, they walked around trying to find Kate.

Arriana spotted her first, and tore away from her grandpa's grasp, running over to her mom. Her little body hit Kate full force and it seemed to Kate that she had appeared out of no where.

"Mommy!" she cried out. Kate looked at her in shock as Jim Beckett ambled over. "It's okay mommy, I here now. I make it all better, mommy. 'S okay, you can cry if you're scared or sad, but I here now mommy, I take care of you," the five year old said.

Kate looked at her dad. There were tear streaks running down her face in shiny rivulets that reflected the dim lights in the gardens. Her eyes were puffy and swelling up, her nose was red and her cheeks were splotchy. Kate Beckett didn't only look a mess, she was literally one too.

"Yeah Katie, that's what family is for, like I told Arri, we're there for each other when we're sad. And Arri knew that you needed her. It's okay," he said, sitting next to her and hugging her, "we're here now."

"I messed up, dad. I messed things up so badly," Kate blubbered out.

She carried her daughter into her lap as the tears began to flow freely once more. Squeezing her girl, Kate was in turn squeezed by her dad and hugged by her daughter.

She cried earnestly, letting it all out as her small family held her.

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A/N: It's pretty short, I know. Next chapter will be up real quick, focusing on Rick. Review! :)


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Your reviews for the previous chapter were amazing. Thank you so much, seriously :D

Disclaimer: Not mine...

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

Rick sat in the chair, staring at Alexis' pale face. She was sleeping, and she looked so peaceful.

It was all his fault. He already had two failed marriages, and couldn't provide her with a halfway decent mother. The least he could do was be an amazing father for her. He had one job – to protect his little girl.

And he had failed her.

What hurts worse was that she went to Kate and not him. To add salt to the wound, she told Kate to keep it from him. Had he failed so badly as a father that his own daughter didn't trust him? That even in her moment of need, she ensured he wouldn't know.

Back when the doctor was going to carry out the exam, he couldn't even hold it together long enough to be strong for Alexis. He had let her down so badly. Thank goodness Kate was there.

Kate. He was so confused when it came to Kate. On one hand he's thankful she was there to be his pillar. But on the other hand he's pissed at her. He's furious actually, raving angry; stark mad. There were so many things that she had done that day that were wrong - where could he even begin?!

He didn't even remember half the things he said to her. He was terrified, and he didn't know what to do. So he lashed out, and Kate resulted as one of the casualties. She was someone innocent who got caught in the crossfire. In other words, Kate Beckett was collateral damage. She probably didn't deserve half of what he said, but he was just seeing red and couldn't bring himself to be sorry to her just yet. Right?

He vaguely remembered that Kate had been crying just now, right before she left. God, what had he done to make her cry? He must have been horrendous to her to warrant someone as strong and tough as Kate Beckett to break down in tears.

And now he didn't even know where she was. When Jim Beckett dropped by with Arriana earlier, he was in shock seeing them there. He remembered Jim saying a few words for Alexis and Arriana said something to him.

Jim was carrying her, so she just had to stretch a little to put both her little hands on his cheeks. Castle was trying to remember what she had said. It was something important. Racking his brains, Castle fuzzily pieced the memory together.

She told him in that calm and self-assured voice of hers, "Don't be sad, Uncle Rick. Everything will be shining like the son tomorrow."

Was that right? His head was getting more and more fuzzy. Time to focus.

Arriana had continued, "You will be okay, Uncle Rick. And I will come make you all better, but right now my mommy needs me. You need me too, but you have Lexie, and grandpa says that she sick now, but she get all better like me.

"You two is family so you take care of each other. Mommy and Grandpa Jim and I take care of you too, even if we're not family. But mommy all alone, and she sound all wrong.

"She needs me more. She got nobody now, so I go to her with grandpa. She wont say, but I know it secretly. I know in my heart because it say so. It says so softly, but I hear it. That's why I go see her now. Bye bye Uncle Rick."

She kissed him on the cheek before leaving with Jim Beckett who had pulled out his phone to presumably call Kate.

Even the small girl had been intuitive enough to know her mother had needed her. His anger had blinded him. Kate probably didn't deserve half the things he'd said to her. He had been horrible to Kate.

What had he done?

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A/N: Urgh i really don't like the way this chapter turned out, but i'll settle for this version. Review and lemme know your thoughts :) Pointers for this chapter would be really helpful too, in a constructive criticism kind of way... or just review :)


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: It's almost Monday! Finally we get to enjoy a new episode of Castle :D Anyway, I understand that the story alerts might have had some problem for the past (few?) chapters. Here's a quick recap: Chap 10 - Castle meets Kate at the hospital; Chap 11 - Kate's POV; Chap 12 - Castle's POV. So if you guys missed anything, go back and read them before continuing :) Once you're up to speed, enjoy...

Disclaimer: Not mine!

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**Chapter Thirteen**

Alexis slept rather peacefully throughout the night, with Castle sleeping lightly on the reclining chair next to her. Not the most comfortable sleeping arrangement for a man his size, but he could do far worse.

When she woke up, Alexis asked for Kate when she saw that her father was alone in the room. "I'll go get her for you, pumpkin. It'll just take a minute," he told her, heading out. It hurt that her first thoughts were of Kate. He hadn't seen Kate since she left the previous night, but he was pretty sure she stuck around.

Opening the door, he saw Kate nursing a cup of coffee she got from the machine. She looked terrible. Her eyes were a combination of pink puffiness from crying, and dark circles from a lack of sleep.

She shot up the moment the door opened. "What is it? Is Alexis okay?" she asked immediately. "She slept through the night. She just woke up, and she's asking for you. Did you… get any sleep?" he asked awkwardly.

"Some," she lied, ditching the coffee and going in to see Alexis. Castle didn't see Jim or Arriana around, so Kate must have made them leave last night. He trailed behind her into the room.

"Hey, good morning. How're you feeling?" Kate greeted.

"Much better," Alexis replied, perking up a bit upon seeing the detective. "You weren't here when I woke up."

"I must have just gone out to get some coffee," Kate lied. "Alexis, I don't mean to bring this up so soon, but we're going to have to take your statement after the doctors clear you."

"She just got up," Castle protested.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm just giving you a heads up. The faster we can get your statement, the faster we can process things. We can have people from the precinct get ready to come over for your statement after you've been cleared, or I could take down your statement if you'd prefer that," Kate offered, not really sure how her offer would be taken.

Alexis might not ever want anything to do with Kate anymore for all she knows. When it came down to it, Kate was the one who basically told Castle to let her go. Kate was the one who got to Alexis late. She wouldn't blame the girl if she never wanted to have anything to do with Kate ever again.

But the boys had suggested she take Alexis' statement earlier that morning when they updated her. Alexis was after all more familiar with her, and wouldn't be as afraid of opening up or recalling the details of the previous day. She might be more comfortable and inclined to share with Kate.

"I want you," Alexis said. Nodding, Kate stood to leave the room to make the call. "I'm just going to inform the boys."

Immediately Alexis' suspicions were confirmed. She thought that something fishy when she woke in the room to find her dad in the reclining chair, asleep, but Kate not in sight. When the detective entered, she could sense that there was a tension, an awkward vibe between her dad and Kate.

Kate could have easily made the call from the room but she had chosen to step out. And the whole time Kate was interacting with Alexis, her dad just hung back. Normally he'd be right by her side, as though Kate's gravitational pull was too strong for him to be anywhere far for any extended period of time.

Before she could question him however, the doctor and nurses came in for the morning rounds to check up on her. The drugs had already cleared from her system, and everything seemed to be fine. She was cleared and could be discharged as soon as the police had taken her statement.

Castle thanked the doctor. Minutes later, Kate reentered the room. The doctor must have spoken to her outside. "Are you ready to give your statement? Or you could prefer to wait, anything is fine," Kate told her.

"I'd like to do it now, get it over and done with, so I can go home," Alexis replied, looking into her lap.

"Okay," Kate said, taking out her notebook. Kate started with the basic questions. After the first few questions however, Alexis interrupted, "Actually dad, could you get me some strawberry milk from the cafeteria?"

"Of course, pumpkin," he said, dropping a kiss on the top of her head before exiting the room. He could take a hint. He realized that Alexis might not be ready to share with him yet, but it still stung a little that his daughter had chosen Kate over him. His emotional wound was beginning to fester. This was the _third_ time that Alexis chose Kate over him, and he just didn't understand **why**.

"Can you continue? We can take a break first if you want," Kate offered.

"No it's okay. I just… I don't think I'm ready to go through it again, with my dad around. Let's just do it."

Kate asked the standard questions, and tried to make it as easy as possible for Alexis. When she had wrapped things up, she sent a text to Castle informing him. She left for the precinct as soon as Castle got back, telling Alexis she'd go over to the loft later to visit. Castle filled out the discharge papers and handled everything else.

It was uncharacteristically quiet in the car on their ride home. Castle settled Alexis in bed, and told her to tell him if she needed anything at all. Just as he was about to leave to let her rest, Alexis called out softly.

"Dad? Back in the hospital, I'm sorry 'bout that. I just – I know that I disappointed you yesterday, and I just… I'm not quite ready to share with you just yet. But I will, I just need time."

"Of course honey. Don't worry about it," he reassured her.

* * *

Kate spent the whole day in the precinct and only dropped by the loft that evening. When Alexis asked if she could stay longer, Kate apologized. "I really need to go, I'm sorry. It's just – Arriana's been over at my dad's and I really should bring her back."

"Oh right, I'm so sorry for stealing you away from her. Will you come by tomorrow?"

"I'll try," Kate replied with a tired smile.

As Castle walked her to the door, he began, "Kate, about what I said in the hospital–"

"I'm sorry, Castle. It's my fault; everything's my fault, and I'll apologize to you a million times until you're willing to forgive me, but can we do this another time? I'm just really exhausted and I'd really like to get back home," she cut in wearily. She hadn't slept in two days, and she missed her daughter so much, and all she wanted to do was cuddle with Arriana forever.

"Right, I'm sorry. About Alexis–"

"Don't worry I'll be here tomorrow."

"It's just, I brought her to therapy earlier today, and she told me that her therapist said she might have latched on to you as a hero throughout this ordeal. I guess that's why she's constantly wanting you around, she formed an attachment or something," Castle explained.

Kate nodded, telling him once more, "Don't worry. I'll be here tomorrow to see Alexis."

* * *

Kate picked Arriana from her dad's and got back to her place. Kate couldn't help but be thankful for little favors. Her father had dinner with Arriana already so that was one less thing she'd have to worry about.

They got ready for bed and collapsed in Kate's bed together. The overpowering cloak of sleep that quickly covered both mother and daughter silenced her grumbling stomach.

The next morning, on their way to school, Arriana asked if it was alright for her to visit Lexie after school. Kate said she would ask Alexis if she was up for visitors, but Arriana shouldn't get her hopes up. Alexis might want some space.

Kate sent a text to Castle while she was on her way to the precinct asking if Alexis would be fine with Arriana visiting her later in the evening. Minutes later he replied that Alexis was okay with that.

He lost contact with Kate for the rest of the day. She had once more got sucked into the vortex of her whirlwind of a job. In fact, she was using her busy job as an excuse to avoid Castle.

They had barely spoken two sentences to each other since that night in the hospital.

True to her word, Kate came by again in the evening with Arriana. Somehow Alexis managed to get them to stay for dinner. While they were eating, Alexis asked, "Would you be free to join one of my therapy sessions? My doctor said it would be good for me if the three of us, meaning you, my dad, and I, could come together for a group session."

"Erm, why don't you give me your therapy schedule, and I'll let you know when I'm free."

After dinner, Castle gave Kate Alexis' appointment times, and the detective chose one that was scheduled in the morning two days from then. "That's settled then," Kate said to Castle. "Arri baby, let's make a move. Say bye to Alexis and Uncle Rick."

"But I not want to go home yet, mommy," the five year old whined.

"Arriana, я очень устала. Пойдем домой," Kate told her in Russian.

"But momma–"

"Домой. Скажите до свидания," She ordered sternly.

Arriana pouted and hung her head but said goodbye to them nonetheless, giving both Castles hugs.

Kate said her goodbyes too and they left. Once more, Kate had managed to manipulate the situation around to her liking, and Castle had failed yet again to get her aside and talk things through with her. He could tell that she was avoiding him and it was causing him to get mad at her for her childish behavior.

Didn't they both agree to make this a real relationship?! Kate needed to stop acting like a child and running away from their problems. During his previous two marriages, he had allowed things to slide by, or he pretended to close one eye. But not with Kate. Oh no, he wasn't going to allow things to fester and spoil between them.

She was _The One_. He could feel it. He's still piss angry at her, but he wasn't going down without a fight. And he'd be damn to let things go bad between them just like that.

Martha was returning tomorrow. When he told her about Alexis, the worried grandmother hurried to make arrangements to return. If Martha could be with Alexis tomorrow, then he'd be able to go look for Kate and confront her.

* * *

After putting Arriana to bed, Kate filled the tub with her favorite scented oils. She was truly exhausted and needed to sleep, but she needed to unwind too. After her breakdown in the hospital a few days ago, Kate turned to her tried and tested fail-proof backup.

She threw herself into work, allowing no time to think or do anything else. But her body had been wound up super tight as a result. She knew that she needed to unwind before she ended up with another meltdown.

She dipped a hand into the tub to test the water's temperature. It was on the hotter side, but Kate disrobed and climbed into the tub anyway. She winced a little but forced herself to sit in the tub. Soon, her skin became pink and heated.

Leaning back, Kate's mind began to wander. She was ashamed and disappointed in herself. She had been avoiding Castle and running away from their problems. She just wanted to pause this whole ordeal and take time for herself to recuperate. Unfortunately, the real world did not function like that.

Like it or not, she would either ruin her relationship with Castle, or she'd have to face him and the consequences of that day.

It was all too much.

Taking a deep breath, she bent her legs so she could slide her body down and submerge under the water. She had shut her eyes so everything was black. She felt the water soaking her hair, going in between every single strand.

Kate couldn't hear much. Everything, even her normal breathing sound was muffled or completely gone. Only the faint thumping of her heart remained it's rhythm. Soon that rhythm became louder and louder as she began to be deprived of oxygen.

Sure enough, there was a throbbing in her ears and at her temple. Holding on just that bit longer, Kate remained underwater, safe from the world. When her chest felt like it was going to explode, she finally sat up.

She sat there, gasping for air. Cool fresh air rushed through her airways. She sat there panting until the water turned cool. She unplugged the tub and stood up, with her mind slightly clearer.

She knew that she really needed to talk to Castle, and she will. Plus there was Alexis' group therapy session that she needed to attend as well. She could do this, and she would, but not now. Now it was time to go to bed.

* * *

A/N: Pretty please review! :)

Ps. I've got the next few chapters all written out kinda to my satisfaction, so I'm proposing an experiment. Aim: To study the relationship between reviews and speed of updates.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Few things before i jump into the story:-

1. I realized that i'd forgotten to put in the translation for Kate and Arriana's little conversation in the previous chapter.. for those of you who didn't google translate it or don't know russian, basically Kate told Arriana that she was tired and wanted to go home. when arriana wanted to argue, Kate told her firmly, "Home. Say your goodbyes."

2. In lieu with the experiment i proposed, here's the hypothesis. The greater the amount of reviews, the faster i'll update.

3. Speaking of reviews, you guys were amazing with the previous chapter :D i try to reply to each review, but some of you guys review as guests, so i just wanted to thank you guys here. Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to review - they really mean the world to me...

Disclaimer: Not mine

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**Chapter Fourteen**

Martha Rogers fawned all over Alexis the moment she returned to the loft. Alexis took it all in stride, seeing as her father had been doing all the fawning for a few days now. When she complained about it to her therapist, Dr. Miller suggested that it might just be a way for them to cope. That made Alexis more understanding.

Therapy seems to be doing well for Alexis. She still had minimal scarring, but her doctor was happy with her condition. Alexis couldn't remember much from that day, but she had been told what had happened. She had accepted what had happened, and was trying to live with it. She wanted to move onward.

Alexis was also slowly trying not to latch on to Kate so much. Her doctor said that it was a common reaction to idolize the person that had been there to save Alexis, so to speak. But Alexis understood that while she felt a tie to Kate, it might not be reciprocal. Kate did not have the need to constantly be around Alexis, and she had to understand that.

Alexis had shared with her father what she could remember from that day after her second day of therapy. She just needed to reaffirm the facts for herself and let it really sink in first. There were also a few sessions whereby Castle was asked to sit in with Alexis. Those sessions were a real eye-opener.

Alexis had not realized just how selfish she had been nor how much she had hurt her dad all those times she went for Kate instead of him. "I was ashamed, dad, and I didn't want to disappoint you. I know how much you trusted me, and I didn't want to worry you. I'm all grown up, dad," she explained.

"Alexis, no matter how old you are, you're still going to be my little girl. I'm still gonna try to protect you no matter what, I'm still going to worry about you. I'm your dad, I can't help it," he told her.

"That's just the thing, dad," she huffed out dejectedly, "you've taken care of me so many years, I don't want you to continue worrying over me. Besides, they're _my_ mistakes to make, they're _my_ lessons to learn."

At this point, Rick couldn't help but shout, "So where does Kate come in, huh? I've been around for all you life, and she's been around for what, ten minutes, and you go running to her instead of me?! You're forever asking after her, what about me?! Don't you know how much it hurts that my own daughter would rather go to someone else?"

They were all stunned into silence after that little outburst. Rick tried to apologize, but the therapist said that it was good to come clean, that way, they could work things out.

Alexis feebly explained, "I'm sorry dad, that didn't occur to me. I guess I kind of went to Kate because she's the only other female in my life that's the closest to my age. I didn't realize how much I had hurt you instead. I'm so sorry, dad." It took another three sessions before father and daughter felt they could mend things once more between them.

Alexis was actually more worried about Kate and her dad. She knew they had quarreled that day in the hospital, and things didn't seem to be resolving between them. The tension was so strained between them that Alexis actually found it hard to be in the same room with the both of them at the same time.

Alexis had to reassure Martha multiple times that she really was fine before the older redhead would let up a bit. Deciding to use another tactic, Alexis decided to distract her.

"We should tell dad I'm going to be fine with you so he can go look for Kate."

Martha lifted an eyebrow. When had Detective Beckett become Kate to Alexis? And what was so important that Castle had to go see the detective when he should be with his daughter? "What aren't you telling me, kiddo?"

"Only that a few things happened while you were away," Alexis said mysteriously. Now that she thought about it, she didn't know if it was her place to let Martha know that Rick and Kate had gotten into a relationship. Sure, they were going through a rough patch now, but lots of couples go through rough patches and still come out fine, right?

But still, they had made Alexis promise to keep it a secret, and she wasn't about to ruin things with her dad now that things were still so tentatively mending. But if Jim Beckett knew, shouldn't it be natural that Martha know as well?

To be on the safe side, she should just hint at it enough to get her grandmother really curious and she could pester it out of Rick herself. Yes, that was what Alexis was going to do.

"It's really not my place to say, since it's between dad and Kate. So if anyone had the right to tell you what happened, it would be Kate or dad."

"What about me, pumpkin?" Rick asked as he joined them, only catching the very last part of her sentence.

"It's just that so many things happened while grams was away," Alexis started, "and you guys kinda made me promise, remember?"

"Out with it, Richard, you know you can never keep anything from your dear mother," the broadway performer told her son.

"Kate and I got together about two weeks ago, and she has a daughter," Rick told her, not beating around the bush.

"Oh that's wonderful dear! I'm so happy for you. And she has a daughter, you say. My, what a surprise. But the two of you – this is good, isn't it?" Martha asked when she detected he wasn't as happy as he was supposed to be.

"It's complicated and messy now, mother. And you have to promise you won't tell anyone about us. We want to keep things quiet, especially since Kate values her privacy so much."

Waving her hand dismissively, Martha dispelled his worries off handedly. "Of course, dear. Is that why you need to go and see Kate?"

"We had a fight, I guess, and we hadn't really had the chance to talk. We're both busy, and Kate's been avoiding me," he said glumly.

"Well I'm back now, and I can hold down the fort with Alexis. We'll be fine, go talk to Kate," Martha offered. He still looked undecided until Alexis told him to go too. "Besides, dad, aren't you sick of me yet? Go and talk to Kate, get some fresh air. Grams can bring me to therapy."

"Okay, but call me if you need anything okay? Or if anything at all comes up."

"We'll be fine, dad. Go fix things with Kate."

On his way to the precinct, Castle dropped by to get some coffee. Going to the homicide floor, Castle was glad to have caught Kate while she was at her desk. "Hey," he greeted, handing her the cup of coffee as a peace offering.

"Castle, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Alexis?" Kate asked, taking the coffee nonetheless and taking a grateful sip. Ah, he always knew exactly how she liked her coffee.

"My mother got back this morning after hearing the news. She's with Alexis now. I've told her about… us," he said it softly, since they were in the precinct and he knew that Kate would be very unhappy if word got out at her work place.

"Oh, okay, I guess that's only fair."

"Can we… go somewhere we can talk?"

"I'm working, Castle. But," she added when she saw his face fall, "I know we need to talk." Glancing around and seeing that the others were busy, she chanced a quick squeeze to his hand. "I'll make it to Alexis' therapy tomorrow. And I've been avoiding you, and I'm sorry, but I just needed some time. I promise we'll talk, okay?" she offered.

Castle squeezed her hand back. "Okay."

"Hey Castle," Ryan greeted when he saw the writer by Beckett's desk. They quickly dropped hands as Castle turned around to greet the detective who had just came out of the lift with Esposito.

"Hey," he greeted them both. "Mother's spending some time with Alexis and I got kicked out so I decided to drop by for a while."

"Sure man. How's Alexis?" Esposito asked.

"She's fine, I guess. She doesn't really remember much from that day, so I guess that's kind of a blessing, but therapy's helped."

"That's good to hear man. Beckett, the warrants just got through. We're heading over to the assistant's home now."

"Okay, let's go," she said, standing and grabbing her jacket while her other hand picked up the coffee cup that Castle brought. "I'm so sorry, Castle, I need to go. I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

The detectives left in a hurry, saying goodbye to their resident writer. Castle sighed and picked up his jacket. He still hadn't gotten to talk to Kate. Tomorrow was it, though. She had said that she would go to therapy, and there would be no more hiding then. Walking dejectedly out of the precinct, Castle headed to the park for a quick walk before heading home.

Kate did not drop by the loft after work that day, since she was going to see them the next morning. Castle sent her a text containing the address of Alexis' therapist and they decided to meet there in the morning.

* * *

There was nothing remarkable with the building, and Kate quickly rode the elevator up to the seventh floor. Kate barely waited two minutes before the Castles exited the very same elevator she had come from. Hugging Alexis in greeting, they then waited for the receptionist to show them in.

"Dr Miller will see you now," the receptionist told them, gesturing to the door. Alexis lead the way into the room, her gait confident and sure of herself. Kate deduced that she must've been here everyday or something.

"Alexis, nice to see you again, and same to you, Rick. This must be Kate," Dr Miller surmised. "Alexis spoke a lot about you, and I want to thank you for making the time to attend this session."

They quickly settled into the couches arranged in a semicircle, facing the lone chair occupied by Dr Miller. "Since this is the first time you're joining us, Kate, I want you to know that this is a safe environment, and that you can share anything here. Now, why don't we start with Alexis. How have you been doing? How do you feel?"

"My grams came back yesterday morning. I could tell her what happened to me without feeling guilty. I was drugged, and I couldn't do more than what I had done on that day. I know I'm not to blame for what had happened. It could happen to anyone, and it happened to me."

"Very well. Kate? Have you got anything to say?"

"I can't begin to tell Alexis and Rick how sorry I am for that day. It's all on me. I persuaded Rick to let her go, so no, Alexis was not to be blamed for what had happened, but I'm to blame."

"Kate, I would have found another way to persuade my dad to let me go anyway. It's nobody's fault. In fact, I'm glad it happened to me, and not someone else."

"What?" Kate retorted as Castle interrupted too, "Don't say that, Alexis."

"But it's true! If it had been some other girl, she wouldn't have known who to call and who knows what might have happened! Besides, I have a support system that I can count on. I don't know what's going on between the both of you, but I know when I need you, you'll be there for me. Just like how the both of you were there when I needed you on that day.

"Today isn't really for me, today was an intervention, for the both of you."

"What are you going on about, Alexis?" Rick Castle asked his daughter.

"The both of you have cleared your morning schedule for this. Well, I don't need you here. Grams can pick me up after my session, so the both of you can go somewhere and talk things out. No more excuses for either of you," she said firmly, standing her ground.

Looking to Dr Miller who looked like she was in on the plan, Kate and Rick groaned and stood up to leave. When they were once more in the reception area, Rick apologized to Kate. "Look, Kate, I had no idea that she would do this. I'm really sorry for making you come all the way here."

"She was trying to help, Castle. Misguided, but her intentions were good. Come on, we might as well head over to the park I saw like, two blocks away? We really need to talk."

They walked in the park in silence for a bit before Castle broke the silence. "Kate, about what I said in the hospital, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said."

"You wouldn't have said it if there weren't truth behind your words," she said wearily.

"But I didn't mean it. It was all in the heat of the moment, and I was scared, and it was wrong of me to lash out at you like that," he apologized.

"But you were right, Castle. She wasn't my daughter, and it wasn't my call to make. I shouldn't have kept it from you. I don't blame you for hating me, even I hate myself."

"I'd never hate you, Kate. I was mad, and scared, but not once did I hate you. Alexis isn't your daughter, but you were exactly what she needed. She didn't need a parent, that's why she didn't come to me, that's why she couldn't open up to me until later. What she needed was a friend she could count on, someone she could look up to.

"I've joined Alexis on her therapy sessions before, and one thing Dr Miller emphasizes on is that what had happened was no one's fault –"

"But it _was_, Castle. It was _my_ fault. I made the wrong call at dinner the other day, and I made the wrong call again by keeping it from you, by trying to think I could handle it."

"Kate, it wasn't your fault. Listen to me," he emphasized, grabbing her by the wrist to stop her walking and spinning her around to face him, he looked into her face and repeated, "it wasn't your fault. What's happened has happened. Things could have been much worse, but in my every waking moment I'm thankful that you got to her when you did.

"I never got the chance to thank you, Kate, for saving my daughter. So, thank you," he said sincerely.

"You can't, Castle. You can't make this out to be some silver lining, best-case scenario thing. I failed her Rick, and I let you down, and I let myself down. I'm not good for you, Castle," she mumbled the last line softly, as a solitary tear traitorously slid down her cheek.

"Katherine Beckett, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I am never letting you go," he said fiercely, pulling her to a complete stop. She had her face inclined to the side, and Castle reached out a hand to her chin to turn her face slowly.

Seeing the tear tracking down her cheek and dangling on the edge of her jaw-line, he reached out a finger to swipe it away. "I'm so sorry, Kate, I'm just so sorry for hurting you. The past few days have been horrible without you. It's even worse when you're there with me, but not _there_. I love you Kate, and that's the only thing that matters to me," he whispered. His voice was so raw and sincere that it cut right through all the haze surrounding Kate's head.

Suddenly there was only one thought in her head, and it was so startlingly clear. She was in love with him. She had been for quite some time now, but she just couldn't ever admit it, even to herself. That four letter L-word terrified her. But now, instead of running away from it, all she wanted to do was dive in headfirst and embrace it.

He was right. Only one thing mattered to her then, and it was him. She could continue her existence on the planet without him, but she didn't want to. She _wanted_ to spend her days with him. She didn't need him, but she was choosing to want him.

"Rick, I love you, and if that means spending the rest of my life making things up to you, making things work between us, I want that. I want you. I chose you, Rick, and I'm choosing you over and over again. Nothing else matters to me."

She pulled him in for a kiss, and the rest of the world melted away. Sure, they still had some issues to work on, but for now they just needed each other.

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A/N: They've finally made up! :D Was it too soon? I didn't really want to drag things out any longer... I know it might feel kinda rushed, and they hadn't exactly sorted out all their issues, but this is a start, right? And the L-word! I think it's a really big step for Kate, and it really showed her character growth.. Review! :)


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: So I've got a challenge for u guys today :) post a review in your native language or mother tongue, and include what country you're from... I'd love to see just how diverse you guys are.

Disclaimer: Still not mine!

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**Chapter Fifteen**

After that day, things progressively got better for Kate and Rick. On days that they were both too busy, they'd spend hours on end on the phone talking to each other while winding down after their long days. Sometimes Kate and Arriana would head over to the loft for dinner.

Alexis was much better as well and didn't require therapy so often. Soon, Castle was spending his days in the precinct working with the detectives once more.

Their one-month anniversary was coming up soon and Rick wanted to do something special. He had been planning different scenarios since the very first day they got together. However, it was Kate that had surprised him by telling him not to make any plans at all for the whole weekend, because _she_ had made plans for them.

Between their children and work, Kate and Rick hadn't really got a chance to spend alone time together. So, she had made plans with Alexis to arrange for a sleepover with Arriana at the loft.

She traded favors with the boys to switch their days off with hers so work wasn't a problem either. Come five in the evening on Friday, Detective Kate Beckett was switching her phone to silent and only taking emergency calls from Alexis, leaving Rick with only Kate Beckett, girlfriend.

He had left the precinct an hour earlier than Kate, and she told him to pack a bag to last through the weekend, and that she would pick him up at seven for dinner. When he asked her what he should pack for, she smugly told him, "You won't really be needing much."

Kate went home promptly at five, trusting the boys to cope just fine over the weekend without her. She took a shower and began dolling up for dinner. Kate had the foresight to pack both her and Arriana's bags the night before just in case there were any delays.

Since there wasn't any, Kate took her time doing her hair and makeup, while Arriana watched on, fascinated by how her mother could transform right before her eyes. When she was done, Kate slipped into the dark blue dress Lanie convinced her to buy a few months back but had never had the proper occasion to wear it.

She had kept things simple, opting for a half updo with slighty smoky makeup since it was nighttime. The dress was simple and tasteful in front, but the back was completely bare. She couldn't wait to see Castle's face.

"Which shoes should mommy wear? These," she asked Arriana, holding up a pair of black pumps, "or these?" She lifted a pair of strappy silver heels, holding out both for Arriana to pick.

"This one!" Arriana exclaimed, picking the black, five-inch, fuck-me pumps. Putting back her silver heels, Kate told her, "Good choice, baby girl."

She slipped on her pumps and checked herself out in the full-length mirror. "You look so pretty, mommy," Arriana said softly in wonder.

"Thank you, Arri. Come on, are you excited for your sleepover with Alexis?"

"Yes!" she shouted energetically.

"All right, now have you taken your toothbrush like mommy told you?" Kate asked, going through the last minute items she had yet to pack.

Nodding enthusiastically, Arriana told her, "Yes, and I put it in my bag at the side, just like you told me to."

"Good girl, let's go." Kate helped Arriana into her coat before putting on her own and picking up the two bags and heading to her car.

* * *

Alexis greeted her at the door, apologizing, "Sorry, dad's still in his room. Why don't I take your coats first and Arriana's bag, then you can pop in to hurry him up." Kate passed Arriana's bag over to Alexis, dropping hers by the door. She hung up both their coats, and Alexis complimented Kate on how gorgeous she looked.

"Oh and the Ferrari's got a full tank," Alexis told Kate when she remembered the other favor the detective had asked of her. She handed Kate the keys as Kate thanked her once more for everything, and the two girls headed over to Alexis' room.

Kate made her way to Rick's bedroom, standing in the doorway with a smirk on her face when she saw Castle holding up two ties, still undecided. "Pick the blue one," Kate prompted, walking into his room. Castle jumped and his eyes flashed to meet hers in the mirror.

"Kate. Hi, I didn't know you were here already. I'm sorry, I just didn't know what to pack for, and what to dress for," he explained his tardiness, discarding the other tie as he began putting on the blue tie.

"I'm sure whatever you packed will be fine. You really won't be needing much for my plans," she teased, taking the two ends of the tie and pulling him toward her. Castle's breath hitched as she began to tie his tie. "You look gorgeous," he breathed out.

"Thanks. You don't look half bad yourself, but I kinda just wanna get out of here."

Stepping back to examine her handiwork, Kate smiled. "There you go. We good to go?" she asked, turning around to walk out of the room. Knowing his eyes were on her backless form, Kate added an extra swagger to her strut. He hurriedly picked up his bag and followed her out.

They were joined by the kids who were coming down the stairs. Kate kissed Arriana goodbye and goodnight, telling her to behave for Alexis. "Have fun at your sleepover," Kate told Arriana, putting on the coat Rick was holding out for her.

"You too, mommy," Arriana responded. "Oh I will," Kate said smugly, looking at Rick who had picked up both their bags.

"Ew, okay guys, get out of here. We love you, and we'll call if there's an emergency," Alexis cut in, giving Kate a goodbye hug and her dad a kiss on the cheek.

When they entered the lift, Kate pressed the button to get to the residents' car park. When Rick asked, she told him, "Oh, we're taking your car. Ferrari's fine, right?"

"Mmhmm," he hummed in a pitch that came out much higher than his liking, barely able to contain his excitement.

Rick dropped their bags in the back and held out his hand for the keys, but Kate told him, "You don't even know where we're going. It'd be much faster if I drove." She slid into the drivers seat, smiling as Rick had to walk to the other side. She secretly just loved driving his car after she's gotten a taste that one time, and she's been itching to get another chance to drive the Ferrari ever since.

Kate drove them to a part of town he's hardly ever been to and parks the car. Looking around and not seeing any restaurants, Rick asked her, "Is this where you kill me and dump my body?"

Leaning over, she placed a hand on his cheek as she gave him a quick kiss. "Come on, Rick. Have some faith in me."

She led him up some steps and knocked on the door. Castle couldn't help but glance around furtively. He trusted Kate with his life, but was she really sure of what she was doing? The slam resounding from an iron flap being slid open cut through his thoughts.

"Я подруга Саши," Kate said to whoever was behind the door. Some moving about could be heard from behind the door, and then the iron flap slid shut before the door opened a second later.

"Катя! Я так долго не видел тебя," a burly Russian man greeted Kate, pulling her in for a hug.

"Саш, как делa? Это мой друг, Рик," Kate introduced, stepping into Rick's side after hugging Sasha back. She continued, "Rick, this is an old friend of mine, Sasha. He's the owner of this place."

"Ah, Katya told me she was bringing someone special on the telephone, but never explained why she want to use back exit. You are Rick Castle, yes? The author," Sasha extended an arm and gripped Rick into a firm handshake.

"Back exit?" Rick asked Kate in hushed tones, raising one eyebrow curiously.

"Come in, come in. Katya will explain all to you, but now we go to your table. Come, come," Sasha gestured, inviting them in.

Rick followed behind Kate, keeping a hand at the small of her back as they followed Sasha in. Behind him, another big Russian guy shut the door once more. Sasha led them for a bit, before opening a door that led into the corridor leading to the washrooms. Shutting the door behind him, Rick saw that it had the sign "employees only" stuck in front.

Sasha led them out to their table, and Rick finally realized which restaurant they were in. It was one of the higher end Russian restaurants in town with good food. In fact, he had been here once or twice. Sasha handed them their menus and left them alone.

"Vkustna?" Rick asked her the moment they were alone.

"So you've been to this restaurant," Kate smiled.

"Yeah, good food, but why the back entrance and the scary Russian guard? You know I haven't exactly had the best experiences with Russian mafias," he teased.

"I wanted to wine and dine you, Rick, without all the hassle of avoiding the paparazzi. And I knew Sasha from some ways back, so it wasn't a problem making reservations and a special side request," she explained, reaching to hold his hand. "Besides, I wanted to yank on your leg a little," Kate admitted, "I like to keep things interesting for you."

Rick squeezed her hand back in gratitude and picked it up to give her a kiss on the back of her hand. Kate turned a delightful shade of pink but didn't retract her hand.

They placed their orders and while they were waiting for their food, Sasha sent over a bottle of wine, on the house.

They were seated at a secluded alcove that was mostly hidden from view for the rest of the restaurant, as per Kate's request, and dinner passed by most delightfully. While they were waiting for desert, someone approached their table. As she was coming from behind Rick, Kate was the first to notice her heading for their table and she began to lean back into her chair a little.

"I'm sorry to intrude, but aren't you Rick Castle?" the busty blond asked him while leaning forward a little, pushing her "girls" onto display, not that they needed any more displaying. The tiny excuse of a dress that she was wearing was barely keeping them in.

Rick grimaced and shot Kate an apologetic look, before turning to the girl with a polite smile, telling her, "Sorry to disappoint, I get that a lot." He turned back to Kate, hoping the girl would take the hint and leave.

To their surprise, she didn't leave. Instead, she took out her phone, and told Rick, "Oh that's such a pity. But then again, he's one of the most eligible bachelors isn't he? I don't think he's dating anyone now anyway."

"If you say so," he replied shortly. He was beginning to get annoyed at the girl. Clearly she could tell that he was on a date, so why wouldn't she just leave him alone? Besides, Rick was beginning to worry if this would spoil their evening. He knows that Kate doesn't like her privacy being intruded upon, and right now, even after all the effort she had put in, their special one month anniversary dinner was getting crashed.

Looking at Kate, he was surprised to see a small smirk on her face as she sat forward. Before he could question her, the girl continued, "Anyway, I hope you don't mind if I could take a picture with you to show my friends. They'd think that I'd met the real Rick Castle."

He suddenly yelped. There was something against his leg, and it was moving higher up, reaching his knees now. Looking at Kate, he suddenly knew what the smirk was about. The little minx. She was taking advantage of skirting around the table which kept their legs nicely hidden from view.

She must have toed off her shoe because he could feel her stoking clad foot making it's way up higher and higher, tracing a pattern that was quickly pushing all thoughts out of his mind.

Suddenly remembering the girl at their table, Rick turned back to her and told her, "I ahh, I don't feel too comfortable with that, actually."

Thankfully, their waiters arrived and served them their desert, at the same time sending the girl back to her table. "You don't feel too comfortable with that, Rick?" Kate threw his words back at him, smiling as she took a mouthful of her ice cream. Her foot had progressed up his thigh and was dangerously close to a certain body part of his.

"You seem a little… warm," she added, inching even closer. She popped another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, sucking onto the spoon on its way out. The way she moaned around the spoon had to be illegal. "You should eat your ice cream, maybe that'll cool you down," she added, as her foot made contact _there_ and she pressed a little.

Castle jerked and his knee hit the table. Kate Beckett was playing footsie with him in public! Clearing his throat, he told her lowly, "Actually, I think we're done with dinner. I find myself in the mood for an altogether different desert."

He quickly called for the bill and threw his credit card down after barely glancing at the amount, despite Kate's objections that she had brought him here, so _she_ should pay for dinner. "You can pay the next time," he told her. Kate smiled as she saw how eager he was to get out of there.

Rick Castle had been a very patient man, but not anymore. He signed the bill and left a hefty tip, leading Kate to the back once more. They said a quick goodbye to Sasha before leaving by the back door again. The moment the door closed, Rick rounded on Kate and backed her against the wall as he kissed her.

If she was surprised, she didn't show it, kissing him back passionately. She bit his lower lip and he gasped in surprise and a little pain. Kate took the opportunity to slip her tongue into his mouth, moaning into him.

She arched herself into him as he grabbed her butt. "Fuck, Kate," he ground out. Suddenly, Kate was pressing something into his hand. Looking down in confusion, he saw his car keys. "Come on, Rick. Time to bring this party elsewhere or I'll have to arrest you for public indecency."

* * *

A/N: Wanted something fluffy since the previous few chapters were of a darker tone... Like it? Hate it? Either way, do review :)

Here's the translation for that little bit in Russian:-

_"Я подруга Саши," Kate said... - "I'm a friend of Sasha," Kate said..._

_"Катя! Я так долго не видел тебя," a burly Russian... - "Katya! It's been too long since I've last seen you," a burly Russian..._

_"Саш, как делa? Это мой друг, Рик," Kate introduced... - "Sash, how're you? This is my friend, Rick," Kate introduced..._


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: To all of you who "participated" in the previous chapter's challenge, thank you! :) I _think_ I can slip this in with the T rating - I'm not too sure. But i kinda don't wanna bump the rating up either. Lemme know what you guys think?

Disclaimer: Not mine

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**Chapter Sixteen**

Rick slipped the key into the ignition and heard the engine roar into life. "Where to?" he asked, pulling her in for another kiss.

"Mmm, the Plaza," she said in between kisses. "Didn't plan on going too far."

Giving her one last kiss, Rick told her, "Good thinking. God, you're a genius," as he pulled the car out and drove to the hotel. As they pulled up, Kate told him, "I made a reservation under Alexander Rogers." Turning to give her another kiss, Rick noticed that some of her hair had come undone. Soft wisps of hair framed her face, making her all the more breathtaking.

Rick passed the keys to the valet and proceeded to check in with Kate. She had gotten the Rose Suite on the eighteenth floor. Again, he passed his credit card over the counter, ignoring her protests, telling Kate, "Let's just get the room first."

He took their key cards and led Kate to the elevators. Unfortunately, (or should it be fortunately?) there were other occupants in the elevator with them. Rick stood with Kate off to a corner, one hand on the small of her back. He traced patterns on her soft skin, dipping his finger below her dress every so often, as Kate pressed herself into his side.

The elevator chimed upon its arrival to their floor and Rick couldn't drag Kate out fast enough. Kate leaned against the door as Rick pulled out their key card. She pulled him in for a hot kiss as he fumbled to open the door.

"Trouble getting it _in_?" Kate teased, laughing throatily into his ear. He pushed the door open with one hand, the other ready to steady Kate by her waist, pulling her to him as he anticipated her loss of balance upon the door opening.

"I never have any trouble getting it in, babe," he responded huskily.

"Prove it," she challenged. Kate squealed as he suddenly hoisted her and carried her bridal style into their room. He surpassed the small foyer as Kate hung on to him with a grin threatening to spill out.

The bell rang just as Rick was about to lower Kate onto the bed. He straightened with a small frown gracing his forehead. "Must be the bags," Kate supplied. Grinning at her, he said, "I'll be right back, make yourself comfortable," as he suddenly tossed her into the air and she landed on the bed with an "Ooof!"

Before she could berate her man-child, he was already heading out of the bedroom. She quickly undressed and positioned herself in the middle of the bed, clad in only her undergarments and those sky high fuck-me pumps. She ran her fingers through her hair to get more volume and tousled it quickly as she heard Rick thanking the guy and shutting the door.

She then rolled onto her stomach and bent a knee so that her toes were pointing to the ceiling and flipped her hair so that it cascaded down her back.

Rick stumbled into a halt when he saw her. Throwing him a sensuous smile, she said coyly, "Well you _did_ tell me to get comfortable." Rick swallowed as she rolled, facing him and sitting up. He couldn't tear his gaze from the way her abdominal muscles rippled. She slowly stood from the bed and sauntered over to him.

"Let me help you with that, you seem a little overdressed." She loosened his tie, and used it to pull him over to stand by the bed. She then proceeded to undo the buttons on his dress shirt, dropping an open mouthed kiss after exposing each inch of skin.

When she dipped her tongue into his belly button, Rick lost his slippery grasp on control. He pulled her up and kissed her roughly, muttering "Fuck, Kate," and yanking off his shirt. Kate arched forward into him, and they both gave into their passion the moment their skins made contact, no longer holding back.

He yanked her panties down as she made quick work of his belt and tugged off his pants and boxers. It was all a flurry after that. Their limbs tangled and pillows ended up on the floor.

Their first time together was all they could have dreamed of and more. It was fiery and passionate. It was _them_.

When they were done, both laid in bed atop bed sheets that were askew, panting for air.

"That was–"

"Amazing," Rick finished her sentence, turning his head to look at her.

"Yeah," she breathed out.

"You were right," he told her, "when we first met? I had _no_ idea."

Smiling languidly, she replied, "Well now you do." Kate rolled onto him and gave him a long, slow kiss before settling her head onto his chest. They lay like that for a while as Rick ran his fingers through her hair, marveling at the woman splayed atop him.

Their second round began with Rick exploring and worshiping her body. He noted every little freckle and scar upon her body, kissed every little nook and cranny. While their first time had been fireworks all around, this time round it was more of a slow kindling, burning for much longer. But when they raced to ecstasy, their intensity rivaled the first time round.

Round three occurred in the shower, all slippery with wet limbs and hot steam fogging the place up. When they were spent, both sat on the floor as Rick gathered her hair to lather in some shampoo and she rubbed soap onto his body. They barely held off round four, agreeing to rinse off everything and tumble into bed.

They were both understandably exhausted by the time they re-gathered the pillows and arranged the bed to sleep in. As Kate curled into his chest and began to doze off, one last thought ran through Rick's mind before he fell asleep with a smile on his face. Tonight was _the_ best night ever.

* * *

Kate was habitually an early riser, and the late night activities a few hours ago weren't going to deter the detective from her normal schedule. She gently untangled her limbs from Rick's and dropped a kiss on his cheek tenderly. He stirred but did not awaken, and Kate padded silently to the bathroom.

Putting on a robe, she went out to use the phone in the foyer to call for breakfast and collected their begs. Bringing it into the bedroom, she began putting away both their things into the wardrobe. Seeing as how they didn't really pack much, Kate was done in minutes.

Kate headed back out to the foyer with her phone and waited there for room service to arrive. She didn't want to wake Rick just yet. Turning on her phone, it soon chimed with a text from Alexis.

_Morning Kate. Arriana just got up, we're making omelets for b'fast. _

Checking the time, Kate saw that she received the text twenty minutes ago. It should be fine to squeeze in a quick call to check up on the girls, so she wouldn't worry as much for the rest of the day.

Alexis picked up on the third ring, and passed Kate on to Arriana. She spoke to her daughter for a while, happy that she seems fine, and talked to Alexis too. A knock on the door interrupted them.

"That's room service, gotta go. Thanks again Alexis and I love both you girls," she ended the call, not giving the teen a chance to tease her about her slip about room service. Kate had kept her plans on a need-to-know basis, and no one else besides herself and Rick needed to know any other detail, and she planned to keep it that way.

Kate opened the door and let the guy in with their food, asking him to leave it on the table. Tipping him, she shut the door and carried the tray over to the bedroom. Seeing Rick still asleep with one arm splayed over the spot she had slept in, Kate smiled. Setting the tray down, she climbed into bed and kissed him.

"Morning sleepyhead," she murmured, running her fingers through his hair. His face broke into a bright smile when he opened his eyes and saw her looking down to him. He could get used to being woken up like this every day, for the rest of his life.

"Morning beautiful," he replied with a kiss as she blushed.

"I took the liberty of ordering breakfast," she told him as Rick sat up against the headboard.

"I know what _I_ want for breakfast," he said to her grabbing her wrist as she made to leave the bed. "You."

Kate belatedly realized that besides sitting up, Rick had something else that was up as well. The bed sheet covered his lower torso, but she could see a tent forming. She grinned at how aroused he was.

"That can be arranged," she said with a smile, turning to straddle him as one hand untied her robe. He quickly discarded her robe, tossing it to the floor.

They didn't have breakfast until much, much later, but neither minded.

* * *

Later when they were seated in bed eating cold pancakes for breakfast, Rick mused aloud, "Remind me to let you plan things more often. This wasn't exactly what I had in mind for our one-month anniversary," here Kate snorted and he corrected himself, "well not _all_ I had in mind, anyway, but I like how things are turning out."

"I like how things are turning out too," she agreed. "So, are there any more plans or can I continue having my wicked way with you after breakfast?"

"The only plans I made involve you, and this hotel room, and not leaving until we check out tomorrow. Besides, who says you're going to have your _wicked way_ with me," she replied, putting in air quotes.

He had just taken a mouthful of pancake so he couldn't reply her. Kate poked a piece of pancake he had cut and ran it through the syrup. "Besides," she continued, "what if I wanted to have _my_ wicked way with you?"

"What would you do 'bout that?" she asked, letting the maple syrup drip onto his torso. Without waiting for his reply, she let the fork containing the pancake clatter back onto the plate as she leant down to suck the syrup off his skin. Rick hurriedly put the tray on the table beside him as they began round five.

Throughout the day they had rounds six and seven, but who was keeping score anyway.

* * *

They went out for a movie in the evening, but kept things casual. After that they went for dinner in a hole-in-the-wall sort of café Kate found a few months back. Then, they walked through central park hand in hand.

Five minutes into their romantic walk, Kate had laughter bubbling out. "I'm so sorry," she apologized as she struggled to hold it in. "It's just, I'm a cop, and–"

"Oh my god, you too? Thank god, I thought I was being weird," Rick interrupted, letting out his laughter too. "It's just, you know, cop and parks at night, I think of drug dealers, and mugging," she explained.

"Tell me about it, I was thinking of the case with the private school kid who was murdered, and for some reason all the other murders in the parks came to me," Rick told her excitedly.

They both looked at each other with wonder on their faces. Their minds were simply too in sync. "I'm sorry, Rick," she apologized once more. "I was thinking 'oh, a walk in the park at night, with stars in the sky, Castle would like that, that should be romantic' but I guess it isn't working for us."

Smiling at her, he shook his head. "No, it isn't exactly working for us. Let's get out of here, this place is starting to give me the creeps."

Taking his hand into hers once more, Kate led the way out of the park. "Don't worry, Rick, I'll protect you."

Sunday morning came all too soon, and they checked out after having breakfast and showering. As wonderful as the past days had been - alone with Rick in their little bubble where no one could interrupt them, Kate was beginning to miss her little girl as well. And the mama-Beckett side of her was itching to get to the loft.

Alexis had assured her that things were fine when they checked in with the kids, but still, she wouldn't rest easy until she had her little girl back in her arms once more. If Rick knew, he didn't tease her, instead, he just handled the checkout as smoothly as possible.

The valet brought his car over to the door, and Rick drove them back to his place. There the girls and Martha greeted them. They ordered take out to be delivered to the loft for a late lunch. Rick wanted Kate to stay longer, but she had to insist on leaving.

"I've got work tomorrow, and Arriana and I both need to wind down," she explained.

"Let me help you wind down," Rick persuaded, massaging her shoulders.

"Sorry dear, but I think you'd only end up winding Kate _up_," Martha interrupted as she walked by.

Kate blushed into Rick, secretly smiling at the truth behind Martha's words. "Mother! We're trying to have a _private_ conversation." Martha brushed off his reprimand with a flick of her wrist, "Well then you should have had the conversation somewhere private, like your bedroom or something."

"She's right you know," Kate stated softly, leaning back from her hug into Rick.

"But it's my loft! Mine!" he retorted.

"I'm talking about you winding me _up_, Rick," she rebuked.

"Oh but I help you wind down so well after winding you up," Rick protested with a smug grin.

"Dad, have your _private _conversations in _private_, please!" Alexis reproached, walking past with her hands over Arriana's ears, leading the younger girl up to her room to collect any other belongings that may still be lying around.

Kate had to bite her lip from laughing out loud, but her shoulders shook, a tell-tale sign of her silent laughter. Rick opened and closed his mouth a few times comically, but no sound came out. "I think it's time for us to go," Kate supplied.

Rick pouted at her but in the end, he nodded in consent dejectedly. Kate collected all of her and Arriana's belongings and they said their farewells to the Castles and Martha.

* * *

A/N: So? What did you guys think? It's my first venture into smut(?) so i apologize if it was weird :-/ Please review! :)


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: So it seems that between every few chapters there'd be one (eg. the last chapter) with really little reviews... i don't really know what to make of it... hmm :-/ Anyways, hope you guys like this one..

Disclaimer: Still not mine

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**Chapter Seventeen**

Monday morning arrived and Rick got to the precinct bright and early with two cups of coffee but to his surprise, Beckett's table was empty. He left her coffee there, and headed over to catch up with the boys.

Half an hour later, a flustered Beckett got out of the lift. "Enjoyed your weekend a little too much?" Esposito teased her. Beckett walked past the three of them with a huff, and Ryan asked, "What's up with her?"

When none of them could figure out anything plausible, they sent Rick over to investigate. "Morning," he greeted, "You were err, late, so I left your coffee on your table."

"I can see that."

Castle was surprised by her curt and short reply. When she remained silent, he ventured tentatively, "Did I do something wrong?"

When they last talked on the phone last night, everything seemed fine. Did he do something to piss her off this morning? But he hadn't even seen her in the morning and she was already in a bad mood.

"Break room, Castle," she bit out, standing to walk in that direction. As Castle followed behind her, he turned to see Ryan and Esposito smirking. They mouthed each "What'd you do now?" and "You're in trouble" at his retreating back. He worriedly turned back to follow Kate.

A few rookies were in the break room but they hurriedly made their way out when they saw the seething female detective. When they were alone at last in the room, Castle asked, "Kate?"

"You wanna know why I was late this morning, Rick?" she rounded on him. Well she was calling him Rick at work so it couldn't have been so bad, but he didn't like the way she was looking at him. Like she was about to empty her clip into him. So, he smartly remained silent.

"I was getting ready for work, and about to leave with Arriana, when she asked me if someone had hit me," Beckett continued in a low voice. "You left hickeys all over me, Castle!" she accused.

He tried to keep a blank face. God knows, he tried, but that was what had gotten Kate so wound up? _Hickeys?_ Thankfully, Kate had turned and began to pace in the break room so she hadn't seen his face. Yet.

"I had to reassure her that I wasn't hurt, and that no one hit me, before changing my clothes. Have you any idea how stuffy it is, wearing a turtleneck in the precinct at this time of the year?"

The temperature had begun to drop outside, so they've begun turning on the central heating in the building. However, it wasn't quite so cold indoors yet so it could get a little stuffy indoors with the heaters turned on.

"So we left to school late, and I got caught in traffic on my way here. The boys are already speculating what I was doing over the weekend, and I didn't need to be late today, Castle!

"Are you smiling?" she was walking furiously toward him. Uh oh. It seemed that she had caught him before he got the chance to school his features. He tried to look at her seriously, telling her, "No, I'm not smiling at you."

She glared back at him, hands on her hips and he couldn't help it. She was such a cute picture, all worked up because of _hickeys_. He even bit his lips to keep the smile from forming, but it was all in vain.

"I'm so sorry Kate," he apologized as his face broke into a wide smile. "You're so adorable, getting all wound up because of a few hickeys, like you're still in high school or something. I could help you wind down?" he offered.

"Oh no, mister. You helping me _wind down_," here she used air quotes, "is what got me these hickeys in the first place. Don't even think about it, mister."

"Are you sure? I don't seem to recall you protesting before," he teased, getting her to forgive him all too easily.

"Urgh, I hate that I can't stay mad at you for long," she confessed, the beginnings of a smile forming on her face.

"No you don't," he teased back, walking toward her. She gave him a one-sided smile as she hummed in agreement. She made to hug him, but Castle stepped back.

"Sorry to spoil the mood, Kate, but the boys are kinda spying at us rather obviously, and I'm still kinda under the impression that you want us to keep us under wraps, especially since you went through so much trouble trying to hide your hickeys."

She groaned and took a step back, as he asked, "So what do you want me to tell the boys? I can't tell them the real reason you called me in here."

Exhaling loudly, Kate walked toward the door. "Figure it out yourself. I hate you, Richard Castle," she announced as she opened the door and walked back to her place. The boys were trying hard to look like they were hard at work, but their antics didn't fool Kate for one bit. Rolling her eyes, she told them, "Back to _real_ work, boys."

The boys updated Beckett on their progress and they began running down new leads. She managed to distract the boys from Castle for now anyway. As she and Castle were heading for her cruiser, Beckett mentioned off-handedly, "By the way, Castle, there's a precinct fundraiser coming up, and Gates emailed me to invite you. They want some good publicity or something. We can't go together, but will you be coming?"

"Sure, anything to spend more time with my favorite detective, even though we'll have to hide our relationship. Could you forward the details to me?"

Kate fidgeted with her phone for a bit, and soon she had forward the relevant email to him. Despite Kate's rocky start of the day, the rest of it unfolded pretty well. They caught their suspect and closed the case. Before she left for home, she dropped by the morgue because Lanie had been sending her texts the whole day, telling her to get her skinny butt down to see Lanie before she headed home, or else.

"You wanted to see me, Lanes?" she greeted. Dr Lanie Parish gave her best friend a once over, and declared, "Spill it, Kate, who are you doing?"

"What?!" she asked in shock.

"You may have hid your daughter from me, but I still know you, Kate Beckett, and I can still read you. And what I'm reading tells me you're having sex. Good sex, in fact."

When Kate continued staring at her best friend in shock, Lanie continued, "Save it, Kate, don't try to deny it because you would be insulting both yourself and me.

"I heard 'bout the boys covering you for the weekend, and how you came in late this morning. Kate Beckett _never_ comes in late. And the boys may not know this, but this time of the year ain't when you break out the turtlenecks, unless you're working down here in the cold like I am.

"So that tells me, you're covering up. Hickeys?" the medical practitioner deduced. Walking over, she hooked a finger into Kate's collar and pulled it down before Kate could protest, seeing the hickey on her neck instantly.

"Hah! I was right," Lanie exclaimed gleefully, "Besides, you've got a glow going on, and it's your I-had-good-sex glow. So spill, girl."

"Fine," Kate told her best friend, smiling happily, "I won't deny it. I was with someone over the weekend, and the sex wasn't just good, it was mind-blowing, _great_ sex."

"I knew it! Damn, girl, who is it?"

Smiling dreamily, Kate told her, "I can't Lanes. We're trying to keep things under wraps."

"Well if he's making you smile like that, then I'm happy for you. Will you be bringing him to the fundraiser though?"

"I can't. We're keeping things under wraps, remember?" Kate said disappointingly. "Oh and can you keep this from the boys?" she added.

Lanie raised an eyebrow, saying, "You do realize that they're detectives, right?"

"I know, but they can be pretty obtuse when it comes to things that aren't case related sometimes," she said with a smile.

"Well I'm not going to keep you any longer, go find your lover and have your mind-blowing great sex," Lanie teased.

Chuckling, Kate told her, "See you around, Lanes," as she headed out.

* * *

She picked up Arriana from the daycare and they headed home. Kate cooked a quick dinner and finished preparing just as her doorbell rang. Castle was joining them for dinner that night, since both Alexis and Martha already had plans. They set the table quickly and enjoyed dinner together.

As they were clearing the plates, Rick's phone began to ring. He pulled it out and frowned before answering. "Paula? Yes it's Rick, who else would it be? What's up?"

Kate cleared the rest of the dishes, giving him some privacy to take his call. However, he followed her so she ended up listening to his half of the conversation anyway. "Yeah, Kate told me about the fundraiser, my whole family's been invited. Yes, I'm going."

There was a pause on Rick's end, and Kate couldn't make out the words, but she could hear Paula saying something to him rapidly. Man, that woman has a shrill voice. She sure pitied Rick.

"No, I'm not bringing anyone. I thought Alexis and Martha would–" Rick exhaled as Paula cut him off.

"I don't need a date Paula. I don't _want _a date."

Kate frowned. She didn't like where Paula seemed to be steering this. Rick ran a hand through his hair and pulled it over his face.

"I'm seeing someone, Paula. Yes, it's serious. No, I'm not bringing her to the fundraiser. We're keeping things quiet. No, _don't_ make arrangements– I don't care if it's just a publicity thing. My girlfriend and I wouldn't like it."

Here Kate stole a smile. He called her his _girlfriend_.

"What obligations to Black Pawn?" he asked incredulously. "I'll do it for some other event. Well _you_ think of something. Yeah, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye."

"What did Paula want?" Kate asked when he hung up; wrapping her arms around him because she could sense that he was in need of a hug.

"It's the precinct fundraiser. She wants me to bring someone, and promote Black Pawn. I offered to do it for Black Pawn some other time, but she said I haven't fulfilled my yearly quota of obligations and promotions for Black Pawn, and the year is ending soon," he told her dejectedly.

"We'll figure something out, okay? I don't want to get in the way of your work. Come on, help me put Arriana to bed," she suggested, slipping her fingers between his and pulling him toward her daughter in the living room.

"Can _we _go to bed after that?" he asked her delightfully.

"Rick, Arriana's kinda been sleeping with me since the chicken pox."

"Well, I've been sleeping with you since Friday and let me tell you, last night was miserable without you."

Laughing, she told him, "I missed you too. Let me see what I can do about Arriana okay?"

Kate quickly got Arriana ready for bed. It wasn't hard after all, since she was so excited about her weekend at the loft and had some trouble sleeping last night. After a full day in school and day care today, the little girl was exhausted.

The moment Arriana's head hit her pillow; the five year old was out like a rock. "Well what do you know, that was easier than expected," Castle whispered to Kate. Rolling her eyes at Castle they made their way out of the little girl's room.

As she and Rick lay in he bed, she told him, "We've got to be careful around Lanie. She knows I'm having sex. Mind-blowing great sex," she added with a smile.

"Oh?"

"She said I had a glow, or something. And she found one of your hickeys," Kate accused.

"But you don't seem to complain when I'm giving them to you," he teased.

Kate hit him weakly on his chest. "Anyway, she knows I'm seeing someone but she doesn't know who."

"So I'm your dirty little secret."

"Mm, in more than one way." She rolled over to kiss him, before discarding his shirt and finding out just how dirty her little secret could get.

* * *

Kate was awoken halfway through the night by a soft tugging on her hand. She sleepily opened her eyes to see Arriana standing in front of her. She was suddenly thankful for having the forethought of putting on a t-shirt and passing Rick his boxers before they slept.

"Kate?" Rick asked sleepily from beside her. "Don't worry, it's Arriana. I got this, go back to sleep," she told him, dropping a kiss on his forehead as he rolled back to sleep. "Come on baby girl, let's go back to bed," Kate said softly, leading her daughter back to her room by the hand.

"What's wrong, Arri? Everything okay?" she asked when she had tucked her back into bed once more.

"I woke up and you weren't there, mommy, nobody was," Arriana said softly, still holding on to her mom.

"Of course I'm here. We're just in different beds, remember? You used to sleep alone in your bed, and mommy would sleep alone in her bed. But if we woke up and needed someone, we're just a room away. Like how you came and got me," Kate explained.

"Why don't you try sleeping again, okay? Mommy will stay here with you until you sleep."

Arriana nodded and closed her eyes as Kate curled up next to her daughter. Soon, both Becketts were asleep in the small bed.

Kate didn't know how long she slept, cramped in the bed with Arriana but she woke to Castle carrying her back to her room. "Shh, don't worry. You must've fallen asleep with Arriana or something and I came looking for you when you didn't return. Your back's gonna be killing you tomorrow if you'd have slept through the night in that position. Arriana will be fine, she knows where to find you if she wakes," he reassured Kate, depositing her back in bed and climbing in after her.

They fell asleep again and no one woke until Kate's alarm rang in the morning.

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A/N: Review! Pretty pleaseeeee? :)


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Rick's date for the fundraiser is revealed! See if you guys can guess who it is... I think it's pretty obvious though.. haha.. enjoy :)

Disclaimer: Not mine

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**Chapter Eighteen**

Rick left early in the morning so he could go home and shower before heading into the precinct. He kissed Kate goodbye at the door and told her he'd see her in a few hours. She got about her morning preparations as usual and when it was time, she woke Arriana for school.

While they were eating breakfast – today was grilled cheese on toast; Arriana looked around and asked, "Where's Uncle Rick?"

"He went home, baby. Why?" Kate noticed she wasn't really eating her breakfast, just nibbling a little on her toast. Kate urged her, "Is there something you want to tell me? You know you can tell me anything, right, Arri?"

Arriana put down her piece of toast. "Do you not want me anymore? Is that why Uncle Rick was with you and I have to sleep in my bed alone?"

Kate's jaw literally dropped as she stared at her little girl. _This_ she was not expecting. However, Arriana took her silence in another way.

"I'm sorry, mommy. I not ask again."

"Hey," Kate scrambled out of her seat to kneel on the floor so she was level with Arriana, "No baby girl, you can ask me anything. Of course I still want you, I love you forever." She hugged her daughter tightly.

"I will want you forever. Even when you don't want me there, I will want you and I will be there, моя дорогая. And you used to sleep in your bed alone, remember? You begged mommy to let you sleep in your big girl bed, right?"

Here Arriana slowly nodded her head but there was still some mild confusion lingering in her eyes. So, Kate took a deep breath and plundered on.

"Mommy's sorry if I ever made you feel like you were going to be replaced. I didn't handle things very well, and I'm sorry. You see, Uncle Rick is a very special friend to mommy," she tried explaining.

"And mommy and Uncle Rick may be very close, and hug and kiss," she really didn't know where she was going with this conversation, "but, but the important thing is, mommy always loves you, and mommy always wants you, and mommy is always there for you and you can tell me anything, okay? I love you so much, baby girl. And this will never change, no matter how old you are, you'll always be my baby girl that I love so, so much."

"I love you too, mommy," Arriana threw her arms around her mom for a tight hug. Kate smiled and gave her a kiss, asking, "Are you alright now? You think you can finish your breakfast?" she continued when Arriana nodded in agreement to her first question.

Arriana broke into a smile and nodded once more, picking up her toast. Kate mirrored her smile reflectively, and went back to her chair and picked up her toast as well. They finished their breakfast before leaving. The conversation in the morning had made them slightly late, but Kate didn't mind. Nothing takes precedent over her daughter.

* * *

When she walked in the precinct, late two days in a row, Castle raised an eyebrow but smartly remained silent. Kate put her things away and sat in her chair before explaining her morning to him. "I kinda botched things with Arriana. She thought I was going to replace her, but thankfully we cleared things up."

"So she's fine now?" Castle asked worriedly. "Mmhmm," Kate replied with a nod, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Actually, I need to talk to you about the fundraiser. Paula called this morning–"

The ringing of the phone on her table interrupted him. "Sorry" she apologized, picking up the phone. It must've been a new murder, because Kate was jotting down the address. "Be there in fifteen," she ended the call.

"New case. Why don't you tell me about your conversation on our way there?" she offered, standing up and getting the boys, telling them the address as they all made their way down.

Alone in her car, Castle told her about the phone call he received in the morning. It seems Paula had been hard at work since confirming his attendance at the fundraiser the previous evening. She called him in the morning with news.

"She said that it was part of my contract with Black Pawn, and since I haven't really done the publicity stuff this year, I can't get out of this. In conjunction with doing promotions for Black Pawn, they want me to attend the fundraiser with a high profile date.

Already, Kate's jaw was tightening but she remained silent, allowing him to continue his story.

"Paula arranged for me to go with Natalie Rhodes, since she's playing my lead character in the movie and all. I'm sorry Kate, if there was any way out of it, I would have taken it," he explained, knowing that Natalie Rhodes was a bit of a sore spot for Kate.

Even though they hadn't been together when Natalie shadowed Kate, he could tell she began to dislike the actress the longer she hung around and imitated Kate. He might even go so far as to say Kate was jealous when Natalie tried to pick him up.

This had 'Terrible Plan' written all over it. He rushed on, telling Kate, "I'll tell her I'm seeing someone, and make it clear that the fundraiser will only be a charade. Kate, I don't want this to happen any more than you do.

"I wish I could just bring you as my date, but we can't. Kate?" he asked worriedly, when she had still remained silent, the only indication that she had listened to anything he said was the constant working of her jaw.

"It's work, Rick, and like you said, you don't have a choice, and I'm not ready for the media to know about us just yet. I trust you, Rick, but I don't trust Natalie Rhodes. I don't like this," she whispered.

Arriving at their crime scene, she said wearily, "Can we talk about this later?"

"Sure. We've got a murder to solve. Shall we?" he asked, trying to cheer her up just a little. He succeeded, seeing the small twitch near her mouth as she tried to keep her smile contained. They stepped out of the car and headed to where the uniforms had set up a perimeter.

"What have we got?" Kate asked the medical examiner on scene.

They got wrapped up in the case and didn't get to talk about the fundraiser until later that night. However, neither of them could come up with a better idea, so they decided to just go with it.

Rick called Paula to confirm the details, and told her to warn Natalie it was just a charade and that he was seeing someone, and it was serious. Ending the call, he asked Kate if she knew what she was going to wear to the fundraiser that weekend. When she said she hadn't gone through her closet yet, he begged her to put on a fashion show.

Both Rick and Arriana sat on her bed as Kate good naturedly paraded some dresses for them. She was working twice as hard to make Arriana feel involved. Arriana was disappointed when she found out she couldn't go to the party on Saturday, but Kate promised to make it up to her by spending the whole of Sunday with her, doing nothing but baking and watching movies and doing their hair and nails. It was going to be a home spa day with just the two of them.

Kate still hadn't decided on which dress she was going to wear when Rick left that night. Even though he wasn't sleeping over that night, Kate still made Arriana sleep in her own bed, while she slept in hers. She wanted their normalcy to begin settling in once more. Before tucking Arriana in, Kate had a sudden thought.

"Come on, mommy wants to show you something," she said in a hushed tone but Arriana caught on to her excitement anyway. They headed back to her room and Kate made Arriana sit on her bed as she headed to her closet. Minutes later, Kate called out, "Can you keep a secret?"

Arriana told her mom "of course!" and Kate walked out of the closet in a strapless deep-green floor-length dress. "Wow, mommy. Are you going to wearing this at the party? 'S so pretty," Arriana breathed in wonder.

Kate twirled a circle in front of Arriana, asking her, "Do you think I should wear this?"

Arriana nodded silently with her mouth slightly open, still stuck in awe. "Okay then, I'll wear this. But you have to keep this a secret okay? Don't tell anyone, especially Uncle Rick. This will be our little secret, just the two of us. I want to surprise him at the party," Kate whispered to Arriana conspiratorially even though there was no one there to overhear.

Arriana nodded enthusiastically, proclaiming, "I not tell anybody that you be wearing the prettiest green dress!" Kate laughed at her innocent little daughter and brought her to bed once more, tucking her in this time and wishing her good night.

Kate slipped out of the dress and hung it in her closet. She was sure Rick would love the thigh high slit running on the right side of her dress. Sure, it was a pretty simple dress, but it was elegant and hung on her body so nicely, clinging to her curves and falling to the floor in a cascade of fabric.

When standing still she didn't show too much skin, but with each stride she flashed a glimpse of her toned leg. Yeah, Rick would love the dress, and he would enjoy peeling it off her even more when the night was over.

* * *

"You're in a good mood," Ryan observed the next morning when he saw her in the precinct, humming quietly as she went through their victim's phone records. "Hmm," she gave him a non-committal shrug but stopped humming. Rick noticed her leg was still bouncing away to some secret rhythm of her own though.

"Something good happened while I was gone?" he asked her curiously.

"Maybe," she answered quickly, standing with the records in her hand and heading over to the murder board. "Hey Espo, can you check and see if she used her credit card on the night of the seventeenth, nineteenth, and twentieth?" she asked, working on a hunch of hers. She needed to focus more on the case and less on her dress for the fundraiser.

"Yeah, she made a transaction all to the same account on those nights," Esposito looked up from his records.

"Check this out," Beckett gathered her team, and began explaining what she's found.

Things progressed quickly and soon they had their suspect in the interrogation room. Beckett and Castle did their thing and tore the suspect down in minutes. He was writing a confession before the end of the day.

Throughout the day, Castle bugged her about what was making her so happy that morning but Beckett refused to acknowledge any of his guesses, telling him she had work to do. As she gathered her things at the end of her work day, Castle relentlessly tried once more.

"Come on, Beckett, you have to at least tell me if I'm close to correct," he whined as they walked toward the lift. Rolling her eyes, she said, "Fine. Three chances, that's it."

"Ooo! Great, Has it got anything to do with Arriana? Or family?" he asked excitedly while she pushed the button to call for the lift. Kate shook her head slowly, smiling to herself.

"Okay, has it got anything to do with the fundraiser this weekend?" he shot again, watching her reaction. Kate paused and he whooped delightedly. "Fundraiser!" he cheered, continuing in a low tone, "Has it got anything to do with your boyfriend? Did you find something? Have you come up with a plan for the fundraiser?"

"One last question, Castle, not a gazillion more questions," she huffed as they stepped into the lift but he knew she wasn't really annoyed with him since there was a slight smile gracing her face.

"Okay okay, erm, lets see, have you found a way to solve our…situation?" Castle asked.

"Unfortunately, nope, and your three questions are up," she replied cheerily.

Undeterred, he continued, "Come on, Kate. Did you plan another fashion show? Have you decided to skip the whole thing altogether? Kateee," he whined, when she ignored his antics.

"You're such a kid!" she told him.

"But you like me that way," he shot back and Kate had to duck her head to keep him from seeing her smile.

"I know you're smiling, Kate," he continued in a sing song lilt.

"So what if I am?" she asked him, showing him her face lit with a smile.

"Come on, tell me what's gotten you so happy today, I want to celebrate with you," he whined.

"Fine," she gave in, "I found a dress for the fundraiser.

"Ooo, I wanna see it!"

"No! I want it to be a surprise," she added softly. Castle smiled at her inner romantic that was surfacing. He wasn't going to call her out on it because she'd just hide away her romantic side for a very long time and he didn't want that. Instead, he asked, "Well, I won't see it until the day, but can you at least tell me a little about your dress?

"It's got to be gorgeous, for sure, everything's gorgeous on you." Kate blushed at the compliment he paid her, but he continued on. "Besides, it has to be pretty spectacular to put you in such a good mood."

"Castle, I don't want you to get your hopes too high, it's a pretty simple dress, nothing flamboyant or haute couture," she cut in.

"I know, that's not your type anyway. So is it short or long?"

Kate pondered for a bit before answering him. There's really no harm in describing her dress a little to him, she wouldn't show it to him until Saturday anyway. "Long."

"Great, I love you in a long dress. Not that I mind the short dresses that make your legs look like they go on forever, but with your height, you pull off long dresses amazingly. Can I know what color it is?"

"You're such a girl, Castle!"

"Come on, so that I can match you," he persuaded her.

"You're not going with me. You're going with Natalie Rhodes, remember?"

"Who cares about that? I'll just tell her I'm wearing whatever color you're wearing, so she can dress to match me if she wants. Please, Kate?"

"It's dark green, kind of like an emerald green" she relented, "but that's it. No more details about the dress! I want to keep it a surprise."

"One last thing, Kate. Can I get you jewelry to go with the dress? Please?" he asked.

"I don't need you buying me things, Castle. I don't– I'm not a kept woman," she told him, a slight frown marring her forehead.

"I know that, Kate. I don't need to, but I want to. Please? I like getting you things; it makes me happy."

"Nothing over the top?" she compromised, knowing this was somehow important to him.

"I'll try, I promise. Now, can I know the neckline and how you're going to do your hair? So I can get you something suitable."

"Seriously Castle you're such a girl! Have you been having tea with Lanie or something?"

"I live with two women," he protested.

"It's strapless and simple. I haven't decided on my hair yet, I'll probably choose on that day. Now seriously, Castle I'm not telling you another detail about my dress. You're going to end up knowing how I'd look even before myself at this rate."

"No more questions, Kate. Thanks for indulging me," he pressed a kiss to her cheek. Damn this man and his ability to turn her into a puddle of melted mush in an instant!

* * *

A/N: Lets see if we can hit the 200reviews mark.. pretty please? :)


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: We've crossed the 200reviews line :D so i went back and read through my reviews all over again, and i really wanna give a special thank you shoutout to a few uber loyal reviewers... these awesome people have been reviewing almost every single chapter since the beginning, so thank you SaraLovesCastle, jnryan93, jennylovescastle, and phnxgrl.

Honorable mentions go to AshLiz, Jorja07, nmcowgirl08, 16abennet, red2031, JayJayNicolaB, Badaboumba, MonkeyWand, LoveAbby, KB4RC, CrimeGirlmariah2000, hug-me, and 03Truth21.

i hope i got all your names correctly, and i'm sorry if i missed out any other "loyal" reviewers... Some of you guys have fallen rather silent these past few chapters so i hope to hear from you guys in either this chapter or the following ones.. i miss your reviews!

Disclaimer: Still not mine

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen**

The days flew by quickly, and on Friday night, Castle presented Kate with a wrapped box. They weren't going to see each other until the fundraiser the next evening. He was going to be busy bringing his mother and daughter to spas and going through his schedule for the evening with Paula.

"Promise me you'll wear it?" he asked, holding her hands and the box containing the jewelry.

"I promise, Rick," she replied with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow," she continued, giving him a goodbye kiss. She held the box in her hand as he left. Kate decided to only open the gift at home; she trusted his taste and judgment.

That night when she was sitting alone in bed, Kate took out his box and began unwrapping it. Opening the box, she gasped in surprise. Rick had bought her a pair of emerald stud earrings along with a diamond choker. The delicate chain at the back of the choker continued on and a clear, sparkly crystal the size of a large grape adorned the end of the chain. It was gorgeous.

She pushed thoughts of how much the jewelry must have cost him while she whipped out her phone and composed a quick text for him.

_Just opened your gift. It's gorgeous. Can't wait to see you tmr! x._

She put the jewelry on her dresser and climbed into bed as it chimed with his reply.

_Glad you liked it. Can't wait to see you tmr too :) x._

* * *

Kate woke up nice and early on Saturday, and headed to the precinct for work. Since the fundraiser was held in the evening, the detectives without pressing cases got off early to return home and prepare. Kate, fortunately, was one of them.

Kate picked Arriana up from her dad's place when she was done with work and brought her home. She managed to get a sitter to come by and watch Arriana for the night, and the sitter was supposed to come in a few hours, giving Kate plenty time to get ready and go for the fundraiser.

She showered and lathered on lotion to her skin. Clad in her bathrobe, Kate began applying her make up. The smoky green and silver eye shadow made the small flecks of green in Kate's eyes even more prominent.

After that, she began curling her hair and arranging it in an up-do of soft curls. She wanted to show off the jewelry Rick had gotten her. Satisfied at last, Kate slipped into her dress and put on her earrings and necklace, keeping her arms bare. She finished off the look with a small silver clutch and a pair of silver strappy heels.

"What do you think?" Kate asked Arriana when she was all done. She twirled around for Arriana and the crystal at the end of her choker twinkled from her back at waist level.

"You just need a crown and you be a princess, mommy! We can go stay in the castle with Lexie and Uncle Rick," Arriana said excitedly.

"Stay in the castle?" Kate repeated.

"Yeah, Uncle Rick says that since his name is Castle, his home is a castle too," Arriana explained patiently to her mother as though it was the most obvious and plainest thing in the world.

Kate chuckled. She hadn't even gotten to _that_ stage in the relationship with Rick yet and her daughter was already making plans to move into the castle. "Easy there, baby girl, we're not about to go staying in any castles anytime soon."

Arriana shrugged nonchalantly, not minding what Kate said one bit. When she grew up, she was going to be a princess just like her mommy, and she would live in her castle. The doorbell rang and Arriana ran to the door excitedly.

Kate was two steps behind her and checked through the peephole before opening her door to Jim Beckett. "Katie, you look amazing," he greeted her with a kiss, and bent down to pick up Arriana.

"Thanks, dad," she replied. Jim and Kate had decided to head over for the fundraiser together. "The sitter should be here soon," Kate told him, checking her clock.

"This is like your prom night all over again, if only your mother could see you now," Jim said emotionally.

"She can, dad," Kate sniffled back at him. "Don't make me cry, dad, you're going to ruin my make up!" Kate added, trying to lighten the mood. Nodding, Jim stood up.

"Here, why don't my two girls stand there so I can take a picture of the both of you," he suggested, taking out his newly acquired camera phone.

Kate and Arriana posed for him as Jim Beckett snapped away. Another knock interrupted them and Kate opened it to let the sitter in. Clara had babysat for Arriana before so Kate wasn't too worried. Reminding Clara her phone number, which was held against the refrigerator by a magnet, Kate and Jim gave Arriana a goodbye kiss before leaving for the fundraiser.

* * *

It seemed that they were a little early, and Kate easily found a spot to park her car. As they were heading for the main doors, the paparazzi began to notice her and whispers of "Isn't that Nikki?" "That's Detective Heat, right?" and "That's the muse!" began to grow. They began snapping pictures but Kate tried to ignore the constant flash going off, focusing on entering.

Suddenly, there was a commotion behind her and the paparazzi shifted their focus. A black limousine had pulled up. Oh good, someone was their new target. The door opened, and Richard Castle stepped out, waving and smiling, in his element as the flashes went off in a flurry. He then helped Alexis and Martha out of the car, and when he turned once more to help the last occupant out of the car, Kate felt her stomach clench.

Natalie Rhodes climbed out of the limousine and the cameras went crazy. She was wearing this tiny scrap of fabric that was supposed to pass off as a dress. Kate noted it was green, but a lighter shade than Kate's. So she did dress to match with Rick after all.

Natalie's dress left little to the imagination, but Kate smugly noticed that Rick's tie and cuff links were a closer match to her shade of dark green. Alexis and Martha had spotted Kate and Jim, and were making their way over to join them, trying to get away from the paparazzi as well.

Paula emerged (but from where?!) along with who must've been Natalie's agent, and they began shepherding the couple to pose for pictures. Rick was smiling for the cameras, sure, but Kate was secretly happy to notice that it was his Rick Castle, bestselling-author publicity smile. He was just posing for the paparazzi.

The small group began heading inside, but then Rick turned, presumably looking for his family and spotted her, calling out, "Kate!"

She swiveled round to see him just as a genuine smile graced his face. That was the smile she saw in private, the smile that the public had no privy to. He rushed over to her, Natalie Rhodes forgotten.

"Hi," he breathed.

"Hi," she replied, equally as airily as a smile formed.

"You look… amazing," he told her, staring straight into her eyes. Kate blushed with a girly smile as the rest of the world just melted away for a moment.

"How about this, eh? A writer and his muse," Paula interrupted, with Natalie Rhodes not far behind. She was still smiling, but Kate could tell her smile was a little more forced than before.

Paula quickly arranged for a few shots of Rick and Kate, who was slightly uncomfortable at all the cameras pointed at them. She obliged, however, because the captain had insisted that all her officers be on their best behavior. Then, they quickly took group shots, with Rick flanked by both Nikki Heats.

Shortly after, the mayor pulled up, giving Kate the opportunity to quickly escape indoors before she could be roped into posing for any more photographs. Rick and Natalie remained outside and took pictures with the mayor good-naturedly, posing for the cameras.

Kate headed over to check which table she was seated in, happy to note that her table consisted of Martha and Alexis, Kevin and Jenny, Javier and Lanie, and her dad. She then scanned the VIP table quickly to see that Rick was with Natalie and the mayor, along with Captain Gates and her husband and a few other important figures.

Walking over to her table, she noted that the Ryans were the only one who weren't in attendance yet. "Kate, you look gorgeous!" Lanie greeted her best friend when she got to the table. Kate thanked her and paid the sexy medical examiner a compliment as well.

Lanie after work was a completely different person. She wore a sexy little number that showed off her assets well, and Javier seems more than happy with that. "You didn't bring your boyfriend?" Lanie teased.

"No, he had some work thing to do," Kate replied, smiling at her white lie, catching Alexis' eye. "He did get me these accessories though, to keep me company when he couldn't."

"Damn, girl, your boy's got good taste," Lanie marveled at the jewelry Kate was wearing. Kevin and Jenny joined them, and their table was complete. They talked easily, at ease with one another. Kate made an effort to engage in Alexis more, since she was the youngest at the table, but the teenager didn't need much help, holding her own conversations with poise that had to make Rick proud.

Martha excused herself for a while when she spotted someone that might have been an old friend of hers. It was during a break in conversation when Alexis caught her father's eye. He gestured with his head to ask her to join him, and she too excused herself, saying, "I think my dad's calling me over."

Kate saw Alexis joining Rick from the corner of her eye as he introduced Alexis to some people. Natalie Rhodes was nowhere in sight, she must be mingling elsewhere. Slightly relieved for the moment, Kate turned back to her table and joined their conversation.

Kate sensed a change in the air before she even turned to see Rick walking their way with Alexis. He greeted them all properly as the boys took jabs at him for seating at the VIP table, while the rest of them were slumming it. He good-naturedly joked back, offering to trade places but none of them actually wanted to sit at that table.

"Take care of my girl, will you?" he told them, as Alexis protested, saying she wasn't a little girl anymore. "Detective Beckett, can I steal you away for a drink?" he offered and she took the chance to slip away with him.

They walked to the bar and Kate's toned thigh teased him every step of the way, peeking out from the slit in her gown. "God, Kate, you look amazing tonight," he told her softly as they waited for the bartender to fix their drinks.

"You don't look half bad yourself," Kate complimented him.

"What I'd do to kiss you now," he whispered to her, eyes smoldering as he truly got to appreciate the beauty that Kate Beckett was that night.

"Same here. Well, the night's still young. We can take the party over to my place after we're done with this," Kate suggested softly.

"Yeah? I'd like that," he murmured, passing her drink over. They clinked glasses and took their drinks.

"Well, I should head back," Kate started, putting down her glass. Her clutch slipped from her fingers and she quickly bent to pick it up before Castle even had the chance to reach for it. Standing up, she noticed Castle staring at her behind.

Stepping into him, she answered the question that was on his mind, "Yeah, it's a thong." Pushing back, she sauntered away, throwing him one last saucy look over her shoulder.

* * *

A/N: Please review :)


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: Not mine

* * *

**Chapter Twenty**

The night unfolded slowly, with food being served and entertainment provided for the guests. There were a lot of auctions and bidding, all in hopes to raise more money for the night.

"And now, a special addition has been added to the bidding tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together and help me welcome the best selling crime novelist, Rick Castle to the stage," the emcee announced.

"What?" Lanie asked, as Ryan too asked Alexis if she knew anything about this. It seems this was the first time little Castle was hearing about this too.

A spotlight followed Rick as he stood from his table and made his way over to the stage. The emcee quickly handed Rick a microphone of his own. "So, Rick, can I call you Rick?" the emcee asked. "Sure," he told her with a charming smile, gesturing for her to continue.

"Rick, do you know why you're up here tonight?" she continued.

"Honestly, I have no idea at all," he told the audience who chuckled, "I was enjoying my food, and suddenly you're calling me up here and my agent, Paula, was just telling me to go with it. Should I be worried?"

"Well, Rick, since you're already used to women fighting over you, there's no need for you to worry."

"Now I'm scared," he interjected as the audience laughed.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr Rick Castle has entered himself into the bidding, and the highest bidder gets to go on a swanky dinner date with him," the emcee announced.

"Might I interject that I did not enter myself, and that it's my agent, Paula? Yes, Paula, I think it's safe to say you're fired," he announced into the microphone.

"Come now, Rick, surely you aren't going to pull yourself out? Look at the ladies getting ready to bid on you, and might I say, I even see some gentlemen out there looking excited," she continued.

Catcalls sounded throughout the hall, with Ryan and Esposito's voice being one of the louder, distinguishable ones.

"Alright, let's do this. It's for a good cause anyway," Castle told the emcee as the audience roared. "But, before we start, may I say a word? Yes? Great. Kate, Detective Kate Beckett, you've been my partner for so many years, please, you _will_ bid for me if the highest bidder is another guy, right? No offense to all the guys out there, but I just don't swing that way. Beckett? Come on, you'll rescue me, right?" he asked.

The whole hall turned to Kate, who called out, "I don't know, Castle. Maybe that's just what you need." The audience hollered as Kate smirked.

"You've got my back," he said offhandedly, but they both knew it was the truth. Besides, he was giving her an excuse to bid on him. "Okay, so what's a date with Richard Castle worth? Can I get a thousand dollars?" he started the bidding.

Immediately a hand shot out somewhere in the back. Rick continued, "I see a thousand in the back, anyone care to top it? Thousand two? Can I see a thousand two, yes, I see one pretty lady in the front with a thousand two-"

He was interrupted as another girl from the other side of the room raised it to a thousand three hundred. The bidding rose quickly, there seemed to be another girl ready to outbid the previous girl at every turn. Kate was trying to keep her cool, but she was beginning to bubble on the inside. That was _her_ man all these women were bidding on. Granted, they didn't know that he was hers, but still, didn't these girls want to retain even a shred of dignity?

Suddenly, a loud voice announced, "Three thousand dollars!" Rick squinted from the stage and comically took a deep gulp before announcing; "I see three thousand dollars from the gentleman in the middle, anyone willing to go higher? I'm throwing in five hundred dollars worth of books by Black Pawn publishing house to the prize."

Another girl quickly came to his rescue before Kate could intervene. She watched on as the number quickly soared. "Come on ladies and gentlemen, remember it's for a good cause," Rick encouraged the audience when the numbers were slowing down.

"Ten thousand dollars!"

Kate whipped her head as she saw Kevin and Javier raising their numbers together. A grin broke through, as she saw Castle flounder on stage. "Erm, yes, I see, the two gentlemen over there. Will the pretty lady seated next to them care to raise the number?"

Kate wryly came to his rescue, she had to keep up appearances after all, raising her number and calling "Ten thousand and a hundred."

"Gorgeous detective with ten thousand and a hundred. Anyone care to go higher? Going once, going twice," Rick said, eager to close the bidding then.

"Fifteen thousand," a hand shot out from the VIP table. Kate whipped her head over, but she could recognize that voice even before looking at its owner.

Natalie Rhodes.

Kate let slip a glare in her direction, before schooling her features. However, Alexis caught the look. Kate's dress was a deep green, but at that moment, it could be said that Kate was even greener with envy.

Catcalls and whistles sounded in the hall, cheering for Natalie's bid. "Kate?" Alexis, who was sitting beside her reached out to touch her hand, getting her attention. "Are you okay?" she whispered, keeping her voice low enough that no one else would overhear their conversation.

"I am not letting _her_, of all people, win this bid!" Kate whispered back vehemently. Good cause or not, she was furious at the gall of Natalie, not only stealing her boyfriend for the night, but going so far as to continue bidding for him when she knew he was involved with someone else.

"Sixteen thousand." Kate announced calmly. Rick shot his gaze back to her, and his eyes flickered between the two women. Oh this was going to be bad. The emcee must have sensed his hesitation, so she stepped in, taking control of the bidding for once as Rick remained silent and tried to keep his face emotionless. He knew Natalie Rhodes was a sensitive issue with his girlfriend.

"Seventeen," Natalie smiled at Kate, challenging her.

Kate couldn't believe her audacity. She may just be a cop but she was going to win this bet even if that meant she would owe her dad money. This was personal.

"Eighteen," Kate shot at her.

"Nineteen."

"Twenty."

Pin drop silence cloaked the hall. By now, everyone knew that a catfight was going to go down. "Twenty five," Natalie put out there.

"Dad?" Kate asked softly, needing back up. "Of course, Katie," he murmured back. "Twenty six," Kate called out.

"Thirty thousand," a voice called from the VIP table, but it wasn't Natalie Rhodes who had bid. The mayor told Rick, "I want to know what the fuss is all about if two gorgeous ladies are practically fighting it out for you."

The much-needed humor broke the tension in the air for a while as Rick chuckled weakly. He was worried for Kate, knowing that she couldn't spend money like that on a cop's salary while having a young girl to raise as well. And knowing Kate, she would refuse any money he offered to compensate her.

Kate's table took the break to let her know they were behind her. "Don't worry Kate, we can help spot you if you need it," Lanie offered as Javier told her, "Yeah, go show Natalie who's boss."

Alexis was focusing on her dad, who threw a worried look at Kate that went unnoticed by the detective before turning back to the front. She knew what her dad was thinking. He, too, was worried for Kate.

Natalie started the bidding again, telling the emcee, "Thirty five."

"Forty." Kate's offer was heard as soon as Natalie announced hers.

"Fifty thousand dollars," a wobbly voice called out. Everyone turned their head to Alexis as she cleared her throat and announced in a clearer voice, "Fifty thousand dollars," while looking straight at her dad.

He smiled, and quickly announced, "My daughter, ladies and gentlemen. Surely no one is going to fight with a young lady wanting to spend some time with her father." Without giving anyone else the chance to bid on him, Rick continued, "Going once, going twice, sold, to my beautiful daughter," as the young teenager began to blush a deep red.

There was clapping and sighs of relief throughout the room. Kate shot the girl a thankful smile. Rick came down from the stage, receiving claps on his back from the mayor and other guys at his table, kissed Natalie's hand, and headed over to join his daughter as the emcee moved on with the rest of the events planned for that night.

"Hi sweetie," he greeted his daughter, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. "Thanks for having my back, Kate," he said to his partner and secret girlfriend.

"Seriously, Castle? Fifty thou for a date with you?" Kevin teased him, lightening the atmosphere at their table.

"Yeah man, I could do a lot with fifty Gs, your daughter must be crazy for dropping so much on you. Rich people have things a little loose upstairs man, no offense, little Castle," Javier took his turn as well.

"I'd be on some beach far away from here if I had fifty grand," Lanie told him, "surrounded by hot guys and a cold drink in my hand."

"Chica you've got a pretty hot man right here," Javier told her as they all laughed. Rick stayed for a while more, before heading back to his table. Alexis excused herself to use the washroom, and Kate rose too, heading off with her.

While they were touching up their makeup, Kate started, "Alexis, back there, thanks for getting me out of that tight spot. It really means a lot to me."

"Don't sweat it, Kate. Besides, my dad has a girlfriend, and I don't think she'd take it very well if he had to go out with Natalie Rhodes on a date, even if it was one that she had to buy. Besides, I kinda like his girlfriend now, she's pretty awesome," Alexis ended softly.

Kate didn't have words that were adequate so she pulled Alexis in for a tight hug, conveying all her gratitude in that simple gesture. "Come on, let's get back out there. Urgh, I can't wait for this to be over!" Kate said frustratedly as they headed back to their seats.

* * *

Captain Gates was invited on stage to say a few words about the fundraiser as they returned to their seats. The plates were cleared so that desert could be served as the captain was nearing the end of her speech.

"I would like to thank each and every one of you once more for your presence here tonight, and for all the money that's been donated. I would like to get all your attention on our final bids. The officers of the NYPD have agreed to take part in this last part of bidding for tonight, and they will share a kiss and dance for the highest bidder."

"What? I didn't agree to that!" someone voiced from the side of the hall.

"It was in the fine print. Check your registration once more," Captain Gates said wryly.

"She can't do that," Javier protested at his table.

"Fine print man. Always gets you," Kevin shook his head as he perused the registration they all filled out for tonight's event.

"I would like to invite the mayor up here to pull out three badge numbers from the bowl. Officers, please make your way up here if your number has been called. The NYPD appreciates your cooperation and contribution for tonight's fundraiser," Captain Gates continued.

The mayor went on stage and stuck his hand into a bowl full of little pieces of paper. He announced, "Let's hope we get good looking cops. The first badge number is 10934."

Hoot calls erupted from a table in the middle. Everyone turned to see who the (un)lucky officer was. He was pretty young, with a buff body and an easy smile. Officer Avant made his way on stage and stood at ease in the middle of the stage.

The mayor said, "Oh we got a fine looking gentleman here. The next number is, 50322."

Groans and laughter simultaneously came from the table behind Kate's. It was Detective Jones. The fifty-odd year old detective made his way on stage good-naturedly and stood at ease next to the young officer.

"Third time lucky eh? Let's hope we can get a female cop up here," the mayor said, fishing for the last number. "And the lucky badge number is 41319."

Kate's jaw dropped. That couldn't be right. "What did he call?" she asked Ryan.

"It's you, Beckett, get up there," her boys told her. This could not be happening. However, the boys were clapping loudly and gaining attention from the crowd. Kate stood up and made her way on stage.

"We've got a pretty lady here," the mayor said as Kate joined the other two officers and stood at ease. Realizing it was probably not such a good idea with her slit in the dress, Kate closed her legs and clasped her hands in front.

The emcee thanked both the captain and mayor, and they went back to their seats. The emcee called forward the first person, asking him to introduce himself.

"Good evening everyone, I'm Officer Avant," he introduced, flashing a smile and giving a quick nod of his head. Kate deduced that he must be pretty green still, and definitely a uniform.

The emcee asked him to turn in a circle slowly, so the ladies could see just what they were bidding for and he sportingly flexed a little and posed. The ladies were all getting pretty excited and began bidding immediately. The fresh-faced officer managed to raise three thousand five hundred dollars.

Smiling, he went back into line and stood at ease. The emcee called forward the second person in line. The older detective went up and introduced himself. "Evening. I'm Detective Jones, and I may not be as young as officer pretty face over there, but not many of us are," he joked.

He flexed his muscles as well, but he had nothing on the younger cop. Nevertheless, the crowd liked him as well, and after a while, he managed to get his bid up to one thousand five hundred dollars. He went back in line and it was Kate's turn. Damn.

"Gentlemen, feast your eyes on our only female cop up for bidding tonight, and isn't she lovely. Please introduce yourself," the emcee passed the microphone over to Kate.

"Hi everyone, I'm Detective Beckett."

"Now, I do believe Detective Beckett here is the muse for Rick Castle's Nikki Heat series, right?" the emcee asked, trying to engage her in conversation. Kate's only response was to give a tight-lipped smile. The emcee made her turn in a circle, and her dress flared a little, giving everyone a glimpse of her creamy thigh.

Before the emcee could begin the bidding, someone yelled from the back, "Two hundred dollars!"

Kate stood on stage with a smile pasted on her face as the males in the room tried to outbid each other. How in the world did Rick get through this? Kate was humiliated, they were bidding on her like she was just another pretty face, just another slave to be sold in the market.

Rick quickly tried to jump to her rescue at two thousand dollars, but the mayor jokingly said loudly, "Come now, Ricky, share your pretty muse with the rest of us will you? Give us a chance with your detective." Rick smiled at the mayor, but he could tell that Kate was getting very upset onstage. She was trying to hold it in, but he could see her hands clenching and unclenching by her sides.

But after what the mayor said, Rick had no choice but to sit out the rest of the bidding. She fetched in the highest price, bringing in eight thousand dollars from a young man from the front.

The emcee told the cops they could return to their seats, and the winners could claim their bid after desert. Rick excused himself and met Kate at the side of the stage when she came down. "Kate, are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"It's just work, Rick. I'll be fine, and it's for a good cause anyway, right? You should get back to your _date,_" she told him.

"Kate," he called again. Just that one syllable, but it held so much emotion and questions. She finally looked at him, and that one look said it all. She was telling him _not now, or I won't be able to handle it._

"Okay, Kate," he relented, "I've got your back though." They parted ways and returned to their respective tables.

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A/N: Review!


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: Not mine

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**Chapter Twenty-One**

The occupants of her table quickly caught on to her mood. "Are you okay?" Lanie tentatively asked her. As a cop, Kate was more suited for gallows humor and not actual concern. However, since more than half of her table weren't on the task force, kindly concern was what she got. Kate couldn't take their pity and she just wanted the damn night to be over already, so she lashed out.

"I'm fine, okay! Its just work, and it's for a good cause. It's not like I haven't done worse in vice or something!"

A silence befell the table and Jim Beckett threw down his napkin. Damn, he didn't need to hear that, especially in the way she had crudely constructed. "Dad, I'm sorry. It's not- it's not like that. It's just work."

Jim Beckett stood up. "It's fine, Katie. I'm done for the night anyway, and there's no point for me to stay for the dancing and whatnot. I'm going to head home. Bye," he told her, walking over to kiss her cheek and saying farewell to the rest of the table, Jim Beckett left.

Kate huffed, angry with herself. "Excuse me, I'll be back," Kate excused herself from the table. Just because she couldn't enjoy desert, it doesn't mean that she should spoil desert for all of them too.

"Please, dig in, this looks scrumptious," Kate heard Martha telling the others, trying to mend the situation after her outburst.

* * *

Kate rushed out to the hallway and pulled out her phone.

_Rick, I was wrong. Need you now. Come out to the hallway?_

It wasn't a full minute before he blundered through the doors she had come out of. "Kate? Kate, what happened? I'm here now, it'll all be okay," he told her, gathering her in his arms and rubbing her back soothingly. He slowly maneuvered them to an alcove by the side, gaining some privacy and at the same time ensuring that any other people who came out wouldn't just stumble upon them.

"I botched things real bad, Rick. My dad's gone home, and I've spoilt the evening for my table. I'm already so humiliated, getting sold like some piece of meat, it's just so degrading and I just couldn't take anyone's pity. I'm this close to crying and ruining my makeup, Rick. I just hate this evening so much, and I just want you to bring me home," Kate told him.

He shushed her and continued rocking her, telling her it will be alright. When she had somewhat calmed down, Rick told her, "If you really want to leave now I can bring you home, Kate. Just say the word. And don't worry about the others at your table, I'm sure they'll understand."

"No, I'm- I think I'm fine now. I've got to do this," she told him, pulling back.

"You sure?" he asked.

Kate nodded grimly, but told him, "Take me home straight after?"

"Sure. I've arranged for two limos anyway. One for Martha and Alexis, and the other to send Natalie off. You drove here, right?"

"Yes, and please, don't mention that bitch's name," Kate moaned, "She's the reason my evening started spiraling downwards." Rick chuckled at that, Kate was frank and rather honest when she was feeling quite low.

"Come on, I think they should be clearing off desert so your dance is up and then we can finally go back," Rick told her, speaking softly, like he would to a child.

Kate straightened and gave him a quick kiss on his lips. "I'll head in first. I'll see you after my dance," she told him, reentering the hall. Castle followed behind her after a minute.

Their timing was pretty spot on. Kate joined her table just as the waiters were clearing the desert plates. The emcee asked for everyone to return to their seats as the three lucky winners took to the dance floor.

Kate made her way over with the other two cops and they were met with the highest bidders. They quickly paired up and made introductions. The winners were eager to get the kiss underway and thankfully they kept things decent. A slow song began playing overhead as they paired up for the dance.

The young man who had bid for Kate, Adam, was all too eager to dance with the pretty detective. "So, detective, which department does a pretty face like you work in? Vice?"

Kate cleared her throat and adjusted his hold on her, bringing his wandering hand way higher on her back. It was enjoying it's exploration too far south for Kate's liking. "Homicide."

"Can I interest you in going for drinks with me sometime?" he was going after her persistently.

"I work long hours," Kate answered diplomatically.

"Surely you get days off to relax and let loose, doll face" he murmured, pulling her closer and looking down the front of her dress. Enough was enough. He was trying too hard to come off as a suave seducer but he just tanked horribly in Kate's eyes.

"Listen up, Adam, I'm a cop and I don't have any qualms about throwing you down on your back," she warned him, trying to distance herself.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you, doll face, but here's the thing, I paid for you," he said, tugging her back to him and dropping his hand to rest low on her back.

Kate bit her lip and counted to ten in all the languages she knew. She didn't want to make a scene. She just had to pretend that she's back working vice. The song would be over soon enough, and she could go home with Rick. Yeah, she could look forward to that.

Adam had started talking dirty to her but Kate just turned everything off. She wasn't even going to acknowledge him. She saw Rick standing with her boys and they were frowning. Kate gave them a subtle shake of her head. The last thing she wanted now was to make a scene.

Counting was good for her. She just needed to continue counting, and soon this will all be over. Sure enough, the song began to end and Kate could see her boys heading her way. As the new song began, Kate stepped back and told Adam, "There's your dance. The NYPD thanks you for your generous donation tonight."

Kate turned away from him and headed to join her boys but Adam wasn't done with her yet. He grabbed her wrist, and Kate instinctively rolled her eyes before she disarmed him and kept his hand behind his back. Pushing on him must have made it even more painful because he gave an undignified yelp as she led him off the dance floor.

"Listen up, mister, your five minutes is up, and if you don't leave me alone, I _will_ press charges for disorderly conduct. Now get out of here without making a scene," she told him, pushing him away.

"You okay there, boss?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah, I don't want to make a scene," she told them. "Anyway, I think I'm gonna go. See you guys on Monday."

The boys told her "Sure Boss," and "Take care, Beckett" as Castle led her out. "Crap, paparazzi are outside," Rick murmured as they approached the main door. It was too late to turn back, as the paparazzi had spotted them anyway, so Rick just led her out.

"I'm just walking the lady to her car, boys," he told them. He whispered to Kate, "I'll text you in a bit," before he shut her door and returned inside. Martha and Alexis weren't ready to go yet, so he gave them the limo's number for when they were done. He then went up to Natalie and told her, "Hey, I'm going to head off. Are you staying, or do you want me to call the limousine for you now?"

"You're not even going to dance with me?" Natalie asked him with a pout.

"I'm sorry, something came up," he explained.

Their respective agents came up, asking, "Is something wrong?"

"No," Rick told them, "I just– something came up and I'm leaving now, so I just wondered if Natalie wanted the limo to come pick her up now or later."

"They need to see you leaving together," Natalie's agent cut in, "otherwise this will just be a small blurp at the corner of the page. If they see you leaving together, they'll speculate and you'll get half a page at least."

"I don't need the publicity," Rick started, but Paula cut in, "All publicity is good publicity. Natalie are you fine with leaving now?"

The actress shrugged, going along with the plan. "I'll get the limo over now," Rick said.

They said their farewells to the mayor and other people there, and made for the main door. The paparazzi took pictures of Rick helping Natalie into the limo, and then climbing in himself, but the duo mainly ignored the questions posed by the paparazzi.

Rick told the driver to drop him off the corner of the next block despite Natalie's insistent persuasion to get him to change his mind. He had sent a text to Kate, telling her where to pick him up. As the taillights of the limousine disappeared, Rick heard Kate pulling up next to the sidewalk and he quickly entered. They were alone at long last and could go back to her place, putting this long and trying day behind them.

* * *

Upon returning home, Kate paid the sitter and checks in on Arriana who was sleeping in her bed. Alone at last, she joined Rick who had helped himself to her wine cupboard and was bringing a bottle of red wine to her kitchen counter.

"Is this fine?" he asked her. Kate nodded, and he proceeded to fill two wine glasses. Handing one to her, they headed to the living room. Kate settled into the couch, killer heels long forgotten by the door. Rick shrugged off his blazer and undid his tie, taking up the space next to her. He just hugged her silently, as she lay on his shoulder.

They just needed some peace and quiet, enjoying the wine as silence draped it's cloak comfortably around the duo. He waited her out in silence, knowing she would talk to him when she was ready; when she wanted to talk. No amount of persuasion or sweet talk on his part could get her to open up before she was ready.

At long last, he broke the silence when their wine glasses were empty. "More wine?"

She stood up, tugging him along, but left their wine glasses on the table. "Help me forget about tonight," Kate told him, leading him in the direction of her bedroom.

And that was what he did, because it had been what Kate needed most at that time. Richard Castle worked at making Kate forget everything, and when she curled contently into his side as they finally fell asleep, he knew that he'd succeeded.

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A/N: Review? :)


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: This is quite possibly my longest chapter. For all of you who've been asking for more girl bonding time, here's one that focuses on the girls :)

Disclaimer: not mine

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**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Rick made his walk of shame back to the loft early the next morning. Kate made him leave her place before Arriana woke up in preparation for the girls' day she had promised her daughter. She did give him a lingering parting kiss in the doorway with the promise to call him if and when she wanted to talk, so he was slightly appeased.

Arriana Beckett woke up to something soft muzzling her face. She opened her eyes to see Snuggles in her face. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead," Kate murmured, as Snuggles wiggled in front of her face.

Arriana grabbed Snuggles and buried her head under the old soft toy. "Oh no, Snuggles has been caught by the lazy bums. I need to rescue him! But the lazy bums got a little girl captive as well, I guess I just have to rescue them both!"

Kate pounced on the form in the bed, and carried the whole huddle up, comforter and all as Arriana began giggling uncontrollably. "I need to get the lazy bums to give them up! Only thing to do is to tickle them out!" Kate exclaimed as she dumped the bundle on the couch and began tickling Arriana.

The little girl shrieked in delight, and batted her arms away weakly. "I'm awake, mommy! No more lazy bums in me! I'm up, I'm up!" she shouted hysterically, clutching Snuggles in front of her as a barrier.

"I think I better swing any remaining lazy bums out, just in case they're still lurking somewhere," Kate tapped Arriana on her nose.

The little girl yelped in delight and threw her arms around Kate. She picked the not-so-little girl up and spun round and round in circles. Still hugging onto Arriana, Kate tumbled into the couch, twisting her body so that she'd land on the bottom.

"Now I know my little girl is safe from the invasion of the lazy bums," Kate said, smacking loud kisses all over Arriana's face. Arriana dropped a kiss on Kate's cheek as well, but the detective grimaced comically. "Oh no, Captain Stinky is attacking me! To the bathroom!"

Arriana laughingly led Kate into the bathroom where she washed her face and brushed her pearly whites. When she was all done, Arriana greeted Kate with morning kisses again, only this time with strawberry-fresh breath.

Laughter and giggles echoed throughout the Beckett residence that morning. What a way to start their morning!

They had waffles and ice cream for breakfast, since Kate liked to keep Sunday mornings special. Then, mother and daughter cracked open Johanna Beckett's recipe book and made a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Kate entertained little Arriana Beckett, telling her of the Sunday mornings she used to share with Grammy when Kate was a small girl like Arriana.

Sunday was special for the Beckett family. As both Jim and Johanna were busy on weekdays, they reserved Sunday especially for family time. Johanna would tease and persuade little Katie out of bed, much like how Kate did with Arriana. Then, they would have a special girls time in the morning as Jim Beckett continued sleeping.

Normally they made breakfast together, as Johanna accumulated tried and tested recipes, slowly adding them to the book Kate now owned. Then, they would bring breakfast over to Jim in bed, as they'd all eat there. On other Sunday mornings, little Katie would pounce on her sleeping father's form, startling him awake and tugging him out to join them for breakfast.

While the cookies were in the oven, Arriana suddenly turned to face her mom, cocked her head to one side, and asked her, "Mommy, is that why you were sad when Grammy went to heaven? Grandpa Jim told me you were very sad for a long time when Grammy left, until I came and cheered you up."

"Yeah, baby girl," Kate replied a little emotionally. She was getting better at dealing with her sudden pangs of missing her mom, but Arriana was such a curious little girl and would just surprise Kate with questions at the oddest times.

"I missed the mother-daughter time I spent with Grammy. So when you came along, I could start spending mother-daughter time with you, so I wasn't so sad anymore," Kate elaborated after she took a second to compose herself.

"Were you very sad, mommy?"

"Sometimes. But I feel all better now that I can spend time with you."

"Does Lexie feel very sad?"

"What? Alexis?" Kate asked, confused at the sudden turn on conversation.

"When I asked Lexie about her mommy, she said she wasn't around. Then I asked if she was in heaven like Grammy," here Kate's face was shocked for a while, but the little girl continued on, undeterred, "but Lexie says her mom is just staying far away, and she seeing her once in a long time.

"That means she don't get special mommy-daughter Sunday morning like you and me, right? So does that mean she feel very sad like when you couldn't spend Sunday morning with Grammy?"

Kate had to tread carefully here. She hadn't realized that Arriana had bonded so much with Alexis during the time they spent together, and she didn't want Arriana to accidentally offend or injure the teen's feelings when she let slip something or posed an awkward question to Alexis.

"I don't know, but I think maybe sometimes she feel sad that her mom isn't around. But Alexis has a dad there for her, and they do some special daddy-daughter things," Kate explained. That didn't come out quite the way she wanted. What if Arriana suddenly wants daddy-daughter time? What was Kate to do?

"But she don't get to do some things like read Grammy's cooking book, or play with dresses. Daddies don't have that."

Kate remained silent, not exactly knowing what to say just yet, so she tried composing a suitable reply in her head before voicing her thoughts. Arriana Beckett gave a loud sigh and surprised Kate, who immediately turned her gaze to her daughter.

"Maybe… Maybe Lexie can join us? She's my friend, mommy, and I don't like if she sad. Maybe we can share a little of mommy-daughter Sunday time with Lexie. You say sharing is good, right? So we can share with Lexie too?" Arriana asked, not knowing how her mommy would take to someone else coming into their special time.

After all, it had been Grammy and mommy, just two girls. And now mommy and herself were two girls too, but Lexie is all alone.

Kate's heart swelled at her daughter's big heart. "Oh Arri baby, of course we can share. But I'll have to ask Lexie if she wants to join okay? She might not want to and we can't force her."

"Okay mommy. You can call her? She says you have her phone number," Arriana supplied.

"What, _now?_" Kate asked. At Arriana's nodding, she continued, "Okay, let me try calling her."

Arriana stared patiently at her mom as Kate waited for the call to go through.

"Alexis? Good morning, it's Kate. Is it convenient for you to talk now? Okay, great. See Arriana and I were just spending our Sunday girl-time, and she was wondering if you'd wanna join. We're baking chocolate chip cookies and would probably watch a movie and play with our hair and do other girly stuff. I know it's last minute and we'd totally understand if you've made plans," Kate quickly explained into the phone.

"Oh really? That's great. We'll see you in thirty minutes then. Oh no, you don't have to bring anything along, it'll be fine. Great, see you soon, Alexis," she said, ending the call. Turning to a very excited Arriana Beckett, Kate was proud to tell her, "Alexis will be over soon."

"Oh no, mommy! We haven't made the welcome card," Arriana cried out, "we _must _make one before she comes!"

"Okay, we'll make one real quick. Mommy needs to watch the cookies so they won't burn, but can you bring your colors out here? I'll get some papers," Kate told her, heading for the nearby drawer as Arriana went to get her things from her school bag.

The little girl returned with an assortment of color pencils, marker pens, and crayons. Kate had laid out some papers over a few sheets of newspaper so that Arriana could decorate the card to her heart's content without either of them worrying about stains.

Kate kept an eye on the cookies, rotating the batches, only occasionally helping Arriana with her spelling. She had drawn a simple card that read "_Welcome?_" at the top of the page, of which the question mark was then cancelled out as an exclamation mark was drawn next to it.

There were three figures, and Kate assumed it must be the three of them. Arriana had given Kate pointy heels while the five year old drew herself in a dress with colourful bows on it. But the main character was in the center, and Arriana drew her slightly larger that the others.

Arriana had tried to give the redhead some bright hair, but unfortunately the blue eyed girl on paper looked like her head was on fire. There was a smile on her face though, and even though Kate resigned herself to the knowledge that her daughter would probably never be the Leonardo or Michelangelo of their time, she smiled proudly at the drawing and hoped Alexis would like it too.

At the bottom of the page was a large heart with Kate and Arriana's name next to it. It was very colorful and Kate assured Arriana that it was the prettiest welcome card ever and that Alexis would love it.

Kate had just finished putting the cookies into a jar and dumped the rest in a large bowl to be eaten when a knock sounded from the front door. Arriana squealed in delight as she ran over with her drawing in hand. Kate opened the door and welcomed Alexis in as Arriana shyly handed the welcome card over.

"Wow, did you do this Arriana?" Alexis asked as the little girl nodded shyly. "It's gorgeous. Thank you so much for inviting me to join your Sunday." That was all Arriana needed to jump into explaining what Sunday mommy-daughter time was all about, how it began with Grammy and mommy when she was as small as Arriana herself. She finished, "So we can share our time with you since your mommy can't."

Alexis was a little shocked to find out she was intruding upon a Beckett-girls tradition. Kate read her hesitance the wrong way though, and quickly apologized on Arriana's behalf. "Alexis, I'm sorry for the way Arriana put it. Please, she's still young and doesn't really know how to… construct _diplomatic_ sentences. It's just a girly hang out time, please don't be offended or anything."

"Offen- oh no, of course not, Kate. I'm just touched that you guys would include me in your special time. Meredith never really hung around to do these kind of things with me."

"I told you, mommy," Arriana piped up.

"_Someone_ needs to learn to speak properly," Kate said wryly, tapping Arriana on her nose.

"Why, mommy? I can speak already," Arriana asked as they all went to the living room.

"Don't worry 'bout it Kate, I think I was worse at her age, asking my dad all sorts of wrong questions at fancy events," Alexis supplied.

"Okay, what's up first?" Kate asked the two girls.

"We watch a movie and eat them cookies!"

"Okay, why don't you show Alexis your movie collection, and she can pick what to watch while I get the cookies."

When Kate returned with the bowl full of chocolate chip cookies, Arriana was already instructing Alexis how to load the movie into the player. Kate settled into the couch and asked, "So what are we watching?"

"My little pony," Alexis answered with a smile, heading over with Arriana to join Kate as the opening sequence began. Kate put the bowl of cookies in Arriana's lap since she sat in the middle, and they munched on the warm cookies for the duration of the episode.

Arriana began bouncing along to the music of the finishing credits and Kate knew what was going to come next. "Hope you don't mind colorful m-a-k-e-u-p on your face," Kate warned Alexis, as Arriana predictably announced, "Mommy we play makey-uppy now! I want to be colorful just like Rainbowdash!"

"Told ya," Kate said to Alexis who began giggling. Rainbowdash was a blue horse with rainbow tail and mane. Arriana was going to be very colorful indeed. Alexis helped clear some space in the living room as Kate went into her bedroom to get her make up palettes.

Kate opened her different palettes and laid them on the floor as the other two looked on in wonder. There was just so much to play with! "Why don't I go first, and you can show Alexis how to do it, okay? You can each take an eye," Kate supplied, sitting on the floor.

"Hello miss, who would you like to look like today?" Arriana asked Kate, before turning to Alexis and explaining, "we do it just like in the makey up shop."

Kate exchanged a small smile with Alexis, and replied, still in character, "Hello to you too. Do you have some samples for me?"

Arriana looked at her mom bewildered, not understanding what she was asking for. "She wants to see pictures, Arri. Go get the CD cover," Alexis stage-whispered to her. Kate winked at Alexis, who seemed to get the hang of things already.

Arriana scrambled back, and presented the CD cover. Kate pretended to ponder for a while, and then pointed to one of the ponies, saying, "I'd like this one, please."

"No problem, miss," Arriana said with a nod, and began looking at the opened palettes, picking the colors.

"Arri, remember what I told you? One finger for one color, okay? And Alexis, just do what you want, it's all about experimenting and fun."

With that, Kate shut her eyes and let the two girls work their magic on her. The girls chatted as Kate was getting her makeover, talking about all sorts of things. Kate could feel Alexis' gentler and steadier touch on her right eyelid as Arriana's smaller pudgy fingers dabbed on her left eyelid.

"All done!" Alexis announced, and Kate opened her eyes, taking the mirror Arriana was handing over.

"Is the customer satisfied?" Arriana asked.

Kate had schooled her features before looking in the mirror, knowing what to expect. She could see that Alexis had tried to match the colors Arriana was going for, but no matter how she tried to blend the eye shadow, purple just didn't go well with yellow and green.

She looked away from the mirror to see Alexis biting her lips trying to keep her laughter in. Yeah, Kate looked kinda scary.

On Arriana's side, there were just bright splotches going on. But, this was all about having fun, Kate would teach her the finer techniques of applying make up as Arriana grew older.

"Yes, I'm very pleased. Thank you," Kate replied politely. Breaking out of character, she asked, "Who's up next? Arri? Or Alexis?" She grinned at the teen as Alexis realized she would probably end up looking like Kate too.

"I'll go," she volunteered bravely.

"Oh someone's brave," Kate teased as she sent Arriana to go wash her colorful fingers. "You're going to find out exactly what you missed out on, scary makeovers and all," Kate continued.

"Dad tried to play beauty parlor with me, but we failed so horribly he decided I should do it on play dates with my friends. We didn't really get to play much though, so hit me with your worst," Alexis told her good-naturedly as Arriana began walking back.

"We'll see what we can do to you," Kate replied with a smile. Looking to Arriana, she asked, "all ready?"

The little girl nodded, showing her clean fingers to her mom. Turning to Alexis, Kate asked, "Hello miss, what look would you want to go for today?"

"Hello to you too. I'm not sure what type of look I'm going for, why don't you surprise me," she said with a smile.

"Alright then, if you would kindly close your eyes."

"What's she mean, mommy?" Arriana asked impatiently.

"It means she's letting us decide what will look the most pretty on her. Lets give her something blue to go with her eyes, okay? And maybe some silver to make it sparkly," Kate suggested, trying to choose their colors early on so Arriana wouldn't have to decide on the colors halfway through.

"Okay, mommy. I think this blue will look pretty with her eyes," Arriana said, picking a shade.

Kate nodded and told her, "Good eye there. Why don't you start with the blue and I'll start with the silver, then we can swap."

Arriana happily began to go to work. Fifteen minutes later, Kate stopped to survey their handiwork. It wasn't too bad, seeing as how it was Kate who had picked the color. Arriana put her final finishing touches, dabbing the silver away and toward Alexis' temple.

"All done! Is miss satisfied?" Arriana asked, handing the mirror to Alexis. She turned her head from side to side, checking out her makeover. Her colors weren't as bad as Kate's, and it was actually really pretty on Kate's side.

"Yes, I'm very satisfied. Thank you very much."

Kate high fived Arriana and told her, "Okay, now your turn. We just need to wash our hands and we'll be back shortly."

Kate led Alexis to wash their hands. "This is actually quite fun, I really like what you did, and Arriana did a pretty good job too."

"The first time we played makeup, Arriana smeared like five different colors onto my face, and my palettes were all mixed as well. When she first handed me the mirror, I was sort of prepared myself, but I wasn't expecting something so colorful," Kate regaled as they both chuckled.

"It was her first time, and she was just staring at me, waiting for my reaction, and I didn't hide my shock quickly enough. Poor girl was so sad, I had to promise her that I really loved it and even took a picture with her, telling her I wanted to capture that moment forever."

"Did you really? Take the picture, I mean, I'd love to see that."

"I really wanted to capture that moment, my first makeover with my daughter, but the makeup, now _that_ I didn't want to capture so much. But we did take a picture together, and I've kept it somewhere safe. That is one picture I do _not_ need to see on a daily basis."

"Well I may not see that picture, but I'm taking one today. My very first proper beauty parlor session," Alexis teased Kate.

"You wouldn't. Look at me!" Kate protested.

"We'll see," Alexis remarked, heading back to the living room where Arriana had been waiting patiently.

This time round, Alexis ran the routine with Arriana as Kate was content to take the back seat. Arriana quickly pointed out the pony she wanted, Rainbowdash, and closed her eyes in anticipation.

Kate and Alexis tried to stay as close to the picture as possible, and even with all the bright colors, it worked for the little girl. You probably have to be a kid to pull off the colorful look. Kate applied blue on her eyelids, and used the bright colors in a rainbow pattern leading away from the eyelid, giving her a very colorful "tail" at the end of her eye.

She even gave some pointers to Alexis, teaching her how to blend the colors and keeping sharp boundaries when needed. "This is really great, Kate. YouTube has all sorts of videos, but sometimes it's hard to understand something unless you really see it. Thanks for teaching me, Kate."

"My pleasure," she murmured with a smile. Having Alexis over to join them may be one of Arriana's best ideas yet.

When they presented the mirror to the little girl, she squealed in delight. The colors were just like Rainbowdash and she loved it!

Next, they did their hair. Kate and Alexis gave Arriana two French tails running down her head, and Kate gave Alexis a waterfall crown braid as Arriana helped by holding the locks that Kate passed to her. Then, Alexis tried to guide Arriana through tying a simple braid for her mom. Kate was just glad that under the watchful eye of Alexis, she wouldn't have to comb out tangles for an hour.

After that, they played dress up, which mostly consisted of Kate and Alexis trying out different outfits to parade for Arriana. Kate saw Alexis checking herself out in the mirror after trying on one of her teal leather jackets, and she told the teen, "Hey, that looks really good on you, why don't you keep it?"

"Huh? What? Oh no, I couldn't possibly," she protested, making to take off the jacket in a hurry.

"No, seriously," Kate interrupted, "I've got tons more where that came from. You should keep it, it fits you better anyway."

"Really? Thanks, Kate. I really love it. Wow, time sure flies when you're having fun," Alexis remarked when she saw that it was already five in the evening.

"Thank you so much for having me over. Kate tells me that it was all your idea, Arriana, and this is the most fun I've had in a while. I really appreciate you guys sharing your special time with me."

Arriana blushed brightly at Alexis' praise.

"You know what, since this is my first time ever playing beauty parlor, I want to take a picture to remember forever. Is that okay?" she asked Arriana who of course nodded.

"You sly little thing," Kate whispered, knowing she couldn't say no to Arriana. Alexis just gleefully took out her phone and snapped pictures of the three of them. Alexis insisted of taking a picture of just Arriana and Kate, and then Kate returned the favor by taking pictures of the two younger girls.

Kate and Alexis then washed off their makeup while Arriana was content to keep hers on. Before Alexis left, she sent the images in her phone to Kate. As she was hugging the Becketts farewell, Kate warned her, "You'd better make sure no one sees those photos."

Alexis laughed and sang out, "Bye Kate," as she left.

* * *

A/N: Ahh, they felt like such a family! :D How i wish Andrew Marlowe would explore the Kate-Alexis relationship more... Anyhoo, review! :) *hint hint i haven't heard from some of you guys in quite some time hint hint*


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: Not mine

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

After dinner and a bubble bath – how could you _not_ end the spectacular day that they've just had with a bubble bath? – Kate gently removed all traces of Arriana's makeup and tucked her into bed. The little girl was asleep in minutes, after the fun-filled day they've had.

Kate had just drawn herself a bubble bath and was heading over to her tub with a glass of wine when Castle called. "Hey you," she murmured into the phone.

"Hey, is this a good time?"

"Yeah, actually just give me two minutes," Kate told him as she disrobed and climbed into her tub. She leaned against the tub and let the warm water soothe her muscles, moaning in satisfaction.

"Err, Kate?"

Shit, she had forgotten that Rick was still on the line. "I'm here, Rick."

"Are you… alone?"

Laughing, she explained, "I was just about to get into the tub when you called, so I made you wait two minutes as I got settled in. Get your mind out of the gutter."

She continued after a beat as he remained silent. "Rick," she said, rolling the R and enunciating the K, making sure to pronounce each of her following words slowly, breathing just the right amount into her phone, "are you picturing me in the tub, naked and wet, the warm water making my skin all flushed, and…"

"And?" he gulped.

"And knowing that I've just spent the day with our daughters." She finished.

"You're evil, woman. Don't ever make me think of hot and naked you along with _our_ daughters in the same time, that's just evil," he complained, but perked a little, telling her, "Did you realize that you just called them our daughters?"

Kate blushed, knowing he could just picture her reaction. "I– what I– I meant as in your daughter and my daughter. Our daughters, separately. Not together, or–" she broke off her sentence in a huff. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Tit for tat, quid pro quo, Kate. I'll drop it – for now. Anyway, Alexis told me a little about the day she had with you girls. Thanks for including her, it really means a lot to the both of us."

"Arri and I loved having her over, Rick, you don't have to thank me."

"She may have mentioned some pictures being involved?" he teased, and Kate groaned into her phone, taking a healthy gulp of her wine.

"She wouldn't let me see, saying you'd try to kill her or something, but she _did _mention that you have a set of those pictures. So?" he dragged out his question, asking, "when do I get to see them?"

"Never!"

"Oh come on, Kate, be a sport!"

"No, it's a girls only thing. Since you have a penis, you can't see it."

"Oh yeah? Well, prepare to not see my penis for a long time," he jokingly threatened.

"Don't go around making empty threats, we both know that isn't going to happen, you enjoy me too much."

"Same could be said about you, detective. Fine, I'll let up now, but heed my words, I _will_ see those pictures one day."

"Anyway, how was your day?"

"Boring without you. I managed to get some writing down. Funny thing is, they mostly ended up in sex scenes," he leered into the phone.

"Yeah? Gina's going to think you're a randy teenager," she teased. "I missed you too, you know. But it was better for me, since I had the girls to keep me company."

He hummed into the phone, and Kate continued, "Hey Rick, thanks for not pushing me. About the fundraiser last night."

"Anytime, Kate. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't want to put a damper on my day, maybe tomorrow? Besides, I'd like to have you there to cuddle," she told him.

"Mmm, yeah, I do give great cuddles, well Alexis says so anyway, and hey, I've even made you a cuddler! That's got to count, go me," he cheered for himself.

"Pfft," Kate replied at his egotism, but she did not rebuke him outright. "The water's getting cold, I should rinse off."

"Okay, good night, Kate. Until tomorrow," he settled, wishing he could kiss her instead.

"I'll see you in your dreams," she replied before hanging up and rinsing off.

Kate crawled into bed, settling to cuddle with her pillow instead. However, the cool pillow lacked the human warmth, or the reassuring rise and fall of a sleeping human's breathing. Creeping into Arriana's room, Kate crawled into bed with her and snuggled with her daughter instead, ignoring their cramped quarters.

* * *

Monday morning found Kate awake bright and early, ready for work. She could feel it. Today was going to be a good day. Breakfast would be simple and quick – cereal with milk. Preparing Arriana's packed food, she went on to wake her daughter for school.

They dressed, ate, grabbed their bags, and were out of the door. Arriana gave her a kiss on the cheek before entering school, and Kate was off to the precinct. The call for the murder came in mid-morning, and the team did what they did to crack the case.

Rick was there, giving her coffee and snacks, supplying insights when needed, bouncing theories with Kate. He persuaded her to go out for lunch while they were waiting for processing to be done, and for once she agreed, so they went to a diner slightly further away from the precinct and the usual crowd.

They talked a little about the fundraiser over milkshakes and when lunch was over, both of them were feeling fresh and energized, ready to dive back into the case. The CSU reports were in, and the team checked it for any anomaly.

The ringing of Kate's phone interrupted her mid sentence. However, Rick had caught on to her chain of thought halfway through her explanation, and Kate nodded him on to explain to the boys as she took her call.

"What?! She– Right now? Okay."

Kate ended her call quickly, picking up her jacket. "What happened?" Rick asked.

"It's Arriana's principle. She got in a fight or something. Can you boys recheck the alibis and priors? I'll be back soon as I can," Kate told her team.

"Yeah, we got it covered," Ryan replied. Kate nodded and left the precinct in a hurry. So much for her good day.

* * *

Kate was livid. After speaking to the principle, Kate once more apologized for her daughter's behavior. Grabbing her daughter by the collar of her rumpled dress, Kate steered her into the backseat of her cruiser. Slamming the door after Arriana, Kate walked over to the driver's side and entered.

"Do you want to tell me what that was about? I've told you never ever to resort to violence! Is this what I get for treating you so nicely? Huh? After all our fun on Sunday, you couldn't just behave in school?!

"You should know better, Arriana. You know how busy I am with work! And why do I work so hard, huh? So that I can give you a good future, Arriana, but what do you do? You fight with another student in school. What happened, Arriana?!" Kate ranted, focusing on the road but glancing at her daughter through the rear-view mirror every once in a while.

Arriana remained silent, a frown creasing her forehead, but her jaw remained clenched tight as wayward tears streaked down her face. Kate had forgotten just how similar Arriana was to herself. Both were strong-headed, stubborn females. But Arriana was in the wrong here and Kate wasn't about to let her off the hook so easily.

She stormed into the precinct with Arriana in tow. The boys' greetings died on their lips as they saw Kate march her daughter to her table. "Sit," Kate ordered, "and you sit there and think about what you did. No talking to anyone until you're ready to explain it all to me."

"Kate, you're back. Hi Arriana," Rick greeted, coming out from the break room with a cup of coffee. His steps faltered as he took in both Becketts' demeanor. Arriana swung her head around to Castle but didn't say anything.

"I… er…" he stuttered.

"She's in time out," Kate bit out.

"O-kay," Rick dragged out, looking at the boys, hoping they could rescue him out of this situation. Thankfully, Esposito called out, "Yo Beckett, check this out." The team converged on his desk and Esposito quickly shared the information he got. They have an address and were about to go bust in on their suspect.

"All right, lets go," Kate ordered, checking her holster and satisfied that her gun was there, she made to leave with the boys. "Er Beckett, what 'bout Arriana?" Ryan asked her, looking at the little girl who was silently sitting by Beckett's desk.

"Damn," Kate muttered the expletive.

"I could stay with her?" Castle offered.

"No it's alright, it'll be quick, and she's in time out anyway, she can't go anywhere or talk to anyone," Kate explained to him, raising her voice on the last part so that Arriana could hear her too.

"You hear that, Arriana? Stay put and don't bother anyone till I'm back," Kate told her daughter sternly before she turned and left with the boys, not sparing a glance back. The boys trudged out after her. They had work to do.

* * *

They returned later with their suspect in tow, and Beckett marched him into the interrogation room none too gently. She still had some steam to blow off, and if the suspect was slightly manhandled in the process, that was his problem. Shutting the door to the interrogation room behind her, Kate glanced at her table.

Shit. Where was her daughter?

Beckett rushed over to the break room, and found a few officers inside, but no Arriana. "Has anyone seen my daughter?" Kate asked the bullpen in general. The few officers that were there shook their heads. Everyone was busy with their own work and didn't notice the quiet little girl.

Kate suddenly spotted Arriana turning the corner, coming into sight. Rushing over, Beckett reprimanded her. "I thought I told you to stay put! Where did you go?"

"It's alright, Beckett," the calm voice of Captain Gates tided her over. "I happened upon your daughter on my way to get some snacks, and pointed her the way to the bathroom."

Beckett belatedly realized that the captain had indeed been walking behind Arriana. "I'm sorry, Sir," she apologized, holding onto her daughter's shoulder tightly.

"Beckett, I've told you before, the precinct is no place for a child, especially to be left alone. You're done for the day. Go home, and sort out what you need. It doesn't take a genius to know the two of you need to settle some things. Your daughter had been in her seat the whole time, but she was crying. Silently, but crying nonetheless the whole time. The boys will handle things from here. You'll just make up the time on one of your off days," Captain Gates dismissed her.

Cheeks flaming, Beckett nodded curtly. "Yes, Sir."

Walking stiffly to her table, Beckett collected her things mechanically. "I'll drop by later? Let you know how the interrogation goes," Castle said to her softly.

"Yeah, sure," she told him, picking up her bags and walking out with Arriana.

"Damn, pissed-off Mama Beckett is _scary!_" Esposito remarked after they've gone down.

"Beckett's still Beckett man," Ryan told him, whacking him with the folder holding the details of their suspect still in the interrogation room. "Come on, let's crack this perp." The boys headed over, with Ryan and Esposito entering the interrogation room while Castle went to the observation room.

* * *

A/N: I know, i know, you should Never leave a child alone, but let's just pretend Beckett knocked her head or something to have that lapse in judgement... I needed Arriana to be 'found' by Gates. Please review :)


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: Heads up! One, Here's the last "bump" they encounter in this story, and then I'll be tying things up for the end in just a few more chapters. Two, Kate might have came off as a little OOC in the previous chapter, but in my opinion she'd be a pretty strict mom, plus she did kinda give Arriana a chance to explain herself in the car, but Arriana just kept quiet. Three, some of you guys kinda guessed where I'd head with this chapter. What can I say, great minds think alike ;p On to the story now...

Disclaimer: Castle's not mine

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

"Go shower and do your homework," Kate told her daughter tiredly when they got back. "Then it's dinner and straight off to bed."

The little girl trudged into her room, dragging her bag behind her. Kate sighed and went to put her things away before heading into the kitchen to prepare dinner. It wasn't like Arriana to get into trouble. And why wouldn't she explain herself? At least then Kate would understand the reasoning behind her behavior.

She got a text from Rick saying the guy they caught turned out to be innocent after all. He was heading over to her place, and she invited him to join them for dinner since she was already cooking.

He arrived at her place a short while later and she let him in. He helped with the finishing touches for dinner and they set the table. "Arriana, dinner," Kate called out.

"Hi Uncle Rick," she greeted upon seeing him and made her way to the dining table.

"Have you finished your homework?" Kate asked. Arriana nodded, picking up her fork and poked at her food.

Kate exchanged a look with Rick. Apparently her daughter was still mad at her. Fine, let her simmer away, and when she was cool-headed once more, she could come talk to Kate.

The adults picked up their spoons as well and began to eat, Rick telling her how the interrogation went down. "We probably need to recheck the brother tomorrow," Kate told him, as he chewed on the food.

"Arriana stop playing with your food," Kate ordered her daughter who was barely nibbling on her food. Instead, Arriana was pushing it from one side of her plate to the other.

"I don't like it," she whined.

"Oh yeah, well I don't like getting interrupted at work either, but I don't get to choose, do I? If you don't want it, then don't eat it. Go, bed," Kate bit out, still slightly on the edge with her daughter.

Arriana threw down her fork that clattered noisily against her plate. "Fine! I hate you! You're so mean! Jacob was right, you're a slut!" she yelled angrily, running to her room and slamming her door shut.

Both adults sat shock still. Kate clambered to her feet and hurried over to Arriana's room. If her daughter thought that she could just say things like that and leave then she had another thing coming.

"Arriana Harley Beckett, you come here and explain yourself to me now!" she hollered, opening the door that had just been slammed shut moments ago. Rick trailed behind her, looking on worriedly.

"Get out! I hate you, I don't want to see you! Leave me alone!" Arriana shouted, seeing her mother in the doorway.

"No! You get your ass over here right now!"

"Get out! Leave me Alone!" Arriana continued shouting hysterically, not letting up.

"Kate, why don't –" Rick paused mid sentence, intimidated by the glare she was throwing him. Damn, flaming mad Mama Beckett _was_ scary as hell! But, they needed an intervention before things got even more out of hand. Looking back at her a little scared, Rick began again. "Kate, why don't the both of you take a breather from each other. Let me try talking to her, Kate. Please? You've been all bad cop on her today, let me try the good cop routine on her."

Breathing heavily, Kate looked at her daughter. Arriana was throwing a full out tantrum and her face and neck were already red, her voice beginning to get hoarse. Rick was right. Maybe they both needed to cool down first. She shot him a look that said 'I trust you' and nodded curtly, turning around and heading out to the living room.

* * *

"Arri, Arriana, hey, hey, look, your mom's gone," he said, trying to get her attention. Arriana faltered for a bit, and looking around, noticed her mother was indeed gone. Her wailing died down into sniffles and hiccups.

"Can I stay?" Rick asked tentatively, telling her, "I won't make you talk or do anything you don't want. It's just – I care for you, and I'm worried."

Using the back of her hand to wipe her face, Arriana nodded at him, still hiccuping occasionally. Rick slowly walked over to her, pulling out some tissues on the cupboard.

"Here, let's try to clean you up a bit, okay?" he said softly, wiping some of her tears and snot away. "You wanna go wash your face? Yeah, let's go wash your face."

Rick guided her into the bathroom, washing her face gently and wiping her dry with a small towel. "There, you look so much better. Come on, let me carry you back in," he said, picking her up.

"You know, the first step to feeling better is to make yourself look better. That's what my mom told me anyway, and I think sometimes it helps a little. Do you want to tell Uncle Rick what happened?

"No?" he asked when she remained silent. "That's alright, I'll tell you something instead. But first, let's get comfortable. Can we sit on your bed? Yes? Okay, great. Here you go."

He picked up her strewn pillows and laid them on the bed once more before settling Arriana against it. Then, he sat next to her on the bed, draping one hand over her shoulder reassuringly.

"I know your mom was quite mean to you today, both at the precinct and just now at dinner," he started in his low voice and Arriana began nodding as tears leaked from her eyes once more.

"Hey, hey, no more tears, we just got you all nice and cleaned up," he said, dabbing at the tears with a fresh tissue.

"As I was saying, your mom was being mean to you today, but do you know why? It's because she was so worried about you," he continued in his soothing voice.

"You know, your mom loves you so much, so very much, that she's afraid of anything ever hurting you. And when she doesn't know how to help you or protect you, she gets all worried. And sometimes when we're so scared and worried, we may be mean to other people. It's not very nice, but it still happens sometimes even though we try so hard not to be mean, you know?

"See your mom still doesn't know what happened today, that's why she's so worried, She doesn't understand why you won't tell her what happened – "

"It's not that I wont, I can't," Arriana interrupted him.

"What? Why? Okay, if you can't tell her, can you tell Uncle Rick?" he asked softly.

"But, what if there might be bad words?"

"Well, just this once, you can tell me, and I won't scold you or anything, okay?"

Arriana thought for a while before she nodded.

"Well it was for arts and crafts, see, Ms Julie brought us outside to collect leaves. And then Jacob comes over and asks me why my name is Beckett, like my mommy, but other kids follow their daddy. I say I not know, and he asks where is my daddy.

"Then I tells him it's just me and mommy, that daddy is with grammy in heaven. But Jacob don't believe me, and he laughs at me. I was so mad but mommy told me to walk away when I'm angry. So I walk away, but Jacob follows me and he says I not know who my daddy is, so my mommy is a slut.

"I not knowing what that means, so I ask him what that is. Then he laughs and me and say I'm a stupid slut for not knowing. And then he takes my leaves, and he tears them! They were so pretty, and he tears them to little pieces and pushes me to the ground.

"I was so mad, so I push him back and we fought. Then Ms Julie breaks us apart, and brings us to the office. He says if I tell the adults what happened, then I'm a snitch and I will get extra scoldings for saying the word slut.

"I'm not a snitch, Uncle Rick! I tells the truth, but I not know what is slut, and it might be a bad word, and mommy don't let me use bad words, so I can't do anything, and mommy was being so mean to me," she finishes her narrating sadly.

"Oh Arriana, you poor dear. You're right, slut is a bad word, and you shouldn't ever use it again, okay? Never ever," Rick told her.

"Not even at Jacob?"

"No, never ever, not even at your mom ever again, even if she's being super mean to you. I'll let her tell you what it means one day if she wants, but you really hurt her feelings just now when you used that word at her."

"Even more than when she was mean to me?" Arriana asks sadly in a soft voice.

"You hurt her ten times more than the meanest she could be to you," Rick tells her softly, "so you have to apologize to her, because you were wrong."

"Oh no, I didn't mean to hurt her so bad. I'll go apologize to mommy, but she's so mad at me."

"Well, why don't we go look for your mom and you can apologize to her and explain what happened? I'm sure she'll be less mad when she understands what happened."

"But she gonna be so mad, Uncle Rick. And I can't tell her the story because of the bad word," she tells him dejectedly, back to her original dilemma.

"Well, why don't we go apologize first, and then you tell your mom the story, just leave out the S – word. Is that okay?"

Nodding slowly, Arriana climbed out of bed, and took his hand, heading out to where her mommy was.

* * *

Kate was sitting on the window seat, leaning her forehead against the cool glass and staring out. "Mommy?" Arriana called out. Kate's head whipped over to look at her daughter. It seems that both Becketts had done some crying of their own.

"I'm so sorry, mommy," Arriana apologized. Kate opened her arms and Arriana ran into her mother's embrace. Hugging her mom tightly, Arriana reiterated, "I'm so very sorry, mommy."

"I'm sorry too," Kate said into her hair, kissing the top of her head as Rick watched on.

"So Arriana told me what happened, and she wants to try telling you what happened," Rick conveyed, playing the peace broker.

"Okay, let's go over to the couches and you can tell me what happened today," Kate told her daughter, shooting Rick a grateful look for everything he's done.

The three of them sat on the couch, and Arriana slowly told Kate what had happened. When she got to the derogatory term, she looked hesitantly at Rick, who supplied on her behalf, "Kate, this Jacob kid said the S – word in regards to you."

Kate's eyes hardened and Arriana softly asked, "Mommy are you mad at me again?"

"No, no, its not you. I'd like to go see Jacob's mother and give her a piece of my mind. Continue with your story, Arri."

She continued with her story, ending it by explaining how she thought the S – word might be a bad word, hence she didn't know if she could tell her mom the story. Kate hugged her tightly as understanding dawned.

"I'm so sorry, Arri. I'm so, so sorry for being so mean to you," Kate apologized.

"I'm so sorry too. Uncle Rick says I hurt you very bad when I called you that word. What's it mean, mommy? I still not know."

"It's a very bad, very rude word to call a girl, and you should never ever use it ever again, okay? Jacob was wrong to start picking at you, but you still shouldn't have pushed him and begin fighting. Next time, I want you to go straight to your teacher and tell her what is going on, okay?"

"But I not want to be a snitch, mommy."

"There's a difference between being a snitch and telling an adult when you're being bullied. And the next time you have a word that you don't know the meaning, I want you to ask me, okay? Even if you think it might be a bad word, you come to me and ask me before you ever repeat that word, okay? I promise I won't scold you."

"I'm sorry, mommy, and I love you. I know just now I say I hate you, but I love you, mommy."

"I know, sweetheart. And even when I'm super angry at you, I still love you too. You know that right? Come on, you wanna eat something? We can even order in if you want," Kate suggested.

"No, 's okay mommy, we just need to heat up the food."

Kate reheated the dinner and after a second and proper sitting of dinner, they put Arriana to bed. Lying in her own bed with Rick, Kate mused to him, "I need to have a word with her teacher tomorrow, see if I can talk to this Jacob kid's mom or something."

He hummed noncommittally next to her, wrapping an arm around her to spoon. "I was so horrible to her Rick, and she couldn't even come to me to tell me what happened. I couldn't have done it without you, Rick."

Placing a kiss at the base of her neck, he mumbled, "You would have found a way around it, Kate. Hey, you're a great mom, okay, so stop worrying and go to sleep."

"You okay there? You seemed quiet today."

"Hmm, oh yeah, I'm fine, Kate. We're fine, I just miss my girlfriend and want to enjoy cuddling with her for a bit."

Turning in his arms so she could face him, Kate cupped his cheek gently with one hand and leaned forward a little to place a soft kiss on his lips. "She misses you too, you know."

Smiling back at her, Rick returned her kiss. Tucking her head into the crook of his neck, Kate quietly lay there, enjoying the solitude with her boyfriend until they both drifted off to sleep.

* * *

A/N: Pretty please review :)


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: The 100th episode was just friggin' awesome!

Disclaimer: They don't belong to me...

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

The next morning, Rick went along with Kate to drop Arriana at school. Kate was explaining to Ms Julie what had happened the previous day and was wondering if she could speak to Jacob's mother when Ms Julie exclaimed, "Oh there she is, Mrs. Borne is walking up with her son now."

"Your girl can sure pack a punch," Rick muttered gleefully to Kate, trying to keep his tone down when he saw the mother and son walking up. Jacob had a nice bruise developing on his cheek and he was going to have that sore and painful reminder for a few days to come at the very least.

"Mrs. Borne, I'd like to have a word with you regarding your son," Kate greeted when they came closer.

"Ms Beckett, here to apologize, I presume?" the mother said haughtily.

"Actually, no. I've spoken to Arriana and told her that fighting is wrong, but I do believe your son should be the one apologizing," Kate said firmly, already disliking the other woman.

"Jacob apologize? What– Are you out of your mind? Look at his face! Just look at what your girl did to him!"

"Arriana would not have fought with him if he didn't provoke and bully her," Kate defended.

"Hmmph! Well, its not like we can expect much from either of you I suppose, a single mother raising her child, and a cop no less! Couldn't you have found a more respectable job? And flaunting your relationships to her, just parading your men to her like that – she's probably never had a stern father figure in her life! No wonder she turned out this way."

"Mrs. Borne, if you had an inkling as to what your son did and said yesterday you would be singing a very different tune! If you have a problem with me, feel free to take it up with me, but leave my daughter out of this! Is it really necessary to say all this in front of the kids? We're adults here, you should be ashamed of yourself!" Kate shot back heatedly.

"I've got Pilates to go to, if you're not here to apologize, I don't see why I should continue wasting my time," Mrs. Borne drawled tiredly with a roll of her eyes. Bending to drop a kiss on her son's head, she told him to keep safe in school and left just like that.

Kate was spluttering incoherently as a result of her anger. How utterly rude!

"I'm sorry if that didn't exactly go as you would have liked," Ms Julie offered.

"You think?" Kate said wryly, exchanging a look with Rick.

Bending to be eye level with Arriana, she hugged her and told her to have fun in school, and to remember what Kate had told her the previous night. Arriana returned her with a kiss on the cheek before bounding into the building, eager to meet her friends.

"That woman is impossible! No wonder her son turned out the way he did," Rick muttered as they began to walk back to her car.

"I'd like to put two rounds into that empty head of hers! I'd be doing America a service by getting rid of her! You know what, I'm glad Arriana punched that Jacob kid yesterday!" Kate vented.

"I'll help you carry the body," Rick offered, "and I'm sure the boys and Lanie would help too. They'd never find her body – or even if they did, they wouldn't be able to pin it back to us."

That brought some laughter out of Kate. "Thanks," she told him with a smile, her previous anger dissipating off.

"Always, but hey, I'm serious if you are."

"We've got enough murders in this city Rick. Come on, let's drop you home so I can get to work," Kate told him as she pulled out of her spot.

"Is Jim picking her up today? Can I pick her instead? Do you think they'd let me? Oh, maybe you can write a note or call them or something, so that I can pick her up today. I want to take her out for ice cream. She deserves the reward, you know. She _earned_ it, giving the other kid that shiner. I'll be the cool Uncle Rick who brings her out to celebrate the good deed she did yesterday. You can't, because you have to be the bad cop – the strict mom, you know, responsible and all that. But Uncle Rick, yeah I'm gonna be her favorite uncle!" Rick babbled on as Kate maneuvered through the morning traffic.

"Don't go putting ideas in my daughter's head. Fighting's still wrong, even if the other person's a douche. Do_ Not_ repeat the last part to my daughter," Kate warned sternly.

* * *

Kate had many things to do in the precinct after their lead yesterday turned out to be a bust. Lanie sent her a text saying she might have something that would be able to help, so Kate headed down to the morgue.

Turns out, their victim had been laced with heparin, an anti coagulant. As it wasn't easy to purchase, Kate now had some pretty good leads to follow. "Hold on there girl," Lanie told her when she made to leave.

"You've got something more for me?"

"No, but you might. The boys told me yesterday was pretty tough with Arriana. How's things on that end?"

Kate gave her a quick run through of the previous days' events, telling Lanie how Rick helped her handle Arriana.

"Oh it's Rick now, is it? He seems to be spending a lot of time with you and your daughter recently, won't the guy you're seeing be jealous?" the medical examiner teased her long time friend.

Kate opened her mouth to reply something but nothing came out. She shut her mouth and gave a sly smile to the medical examiner.

"I'm not playing your games Lanie. I've got real work to do," Kate hedged, deflecting the question.

"Hey, I invoke the favor you owe me for hiding your daughter from me all these years," was the sassy reply Lanie threw back at Kate.

"Lanieeeee," Kate whined, but her friend just fixed her a look, raising an eyebrow. Huffing in defeat, Kate leaned against one of the exam tables, telling her, "Fine, the… guy I'm seeing knows about it, and he's not jealous."

The medical examiner remained silent, waiting for her to elaborate. "Things are good, Lanes, and I don't wanna jinx anything. It might or might not be what you're thinking?" Kate ended with a smile.

"I knew it! You and Writer boy–"

"Don't say it! I don't wanna jinx or spoil anything," Kate interjected.

"Okay," Lanie relented, smiling happily for her friend, "What we're both thinking of, how long's it been? I want details, girl! How's the sex? It's got to be mind-blowing, all that sexual tension building up over the years, who else knows? How did it happen?"

Kate laughed at the grilling her friend was putting her through. "Easy there, Lanes. It's been, what, forty three days?" Kate told her, a smile gracing her face.

"Kate Beckett you're such a romantic, keeping the details down to the days! You two lovebirds gotta be head over heels together!" Lanie teased.

"Things are good, Lanes, and I'm enjoying it. The sex is amazing. I thought I've experienced my share, but god, with him, everything's so intense and a million times better," Kate gushed, leaping down from her perch on the exam table.

"No one outside our direct families know, Lanie. And we're trying to keep it that way, so you absolutely _cannot_ tell anyone. Especially Javier. I'm serious, Lanes."

"Okay girl, my lips are sealed, but you're going to have to tell me the full details one day soon. We need to have a wine night, put your little girl to bed, and you can spill all the dirty details," Lanie told her with a glint in her eye.

"After I wrap up this case, okay?"

"Hold you to it, Kate. Go get back to work, the sooner you close this case, the sooner we can have our wine night."

Kate laughed and said goodbye to the doctor, heading back to the bullpen. It felt good, sharing with her best friend. Kate hadn't realized just how much she needed to gush to someone else, and since they were keeping things on the down low, she hadn't been able to share her excitement with anyone, Rick aside. But it felt so good sharing with a third party. Yeah, she couldn't wait to close this case and catch up with Lanie.

* * *

Castle was hanging out with the boys when she arrived. She went to update the murder board with the information Lanie had given her. They would start focusing on the victim's cousin who was a pharmacist. Out of all the people they interviewed, she was the one with the easiest access to the blood thinner.

Kate and Rick left to pick her up, leaving the boys to prep in the precinct for the interrogation. As she was heading to the cousins' address, Kate told him. "So Lanie kinda knows about us."

"You- you told her?" Rick asked curiously.

"Kind of. She was sorta interrogating me, and it just came out," Kate said with a shrug.

"Are you okay with that? I mean, I know you wanted to keep things quiet."

"Yeah, actually, I'm fine with it. It's nice to be able to share my excitement with someone outside. I made her promise to keep her mouth shut, though. I'm not quite ready to share with everyone else just yet," she explained.

"Share your excitement? I didn't know you were that excited," he teased his girlfriend.

"Yeah, well some of us just hide it a little better, Castle. Besides, we're on the job now, or at least, I am, and we need to stay focused."

"Oh I'm focused, alright," Rick stated, leering at her.

"On the job, _Castle_," she reprimanded, but her heart wasn't really into it.

"But there's no one else around, it's just you" he breathed, leaning closer to her, "and me," he continued, nuzzling her neck.

Kate let out an unsteady breath as he continued his administrations higher, breathing softly on her ear, leaving all her nerve endings awakened in the process, sending jolts of electricity to her spine.

"Castle," she protested weakly, slightly embarrassed that it came out more like a moan.

"Just tell me to stop, Kate, and I will," he whispered hotly to her.

"Stop," she breathed, trying her hardest to focus on the road in front.

"Mmm, that doesn't count," he rebuked, placing hot kisses at her neck, nipping at her pulse point. "Say it like you mean it, Kate."

She suddenly swerved to the side and parked her car. He had stopped, shocked by the sudden change in their movement, but Kate launched herself, well, as much as she could while still being held back by her seat belt anyway, kissing him hardly on the lips.

He responded immediately, kissing her back. Giving him a small bite on the lower lip, she pulled back. "We're here."

Castle looked around and took in his surroundings. He had been so busy trying to distract Kate that he didn't even realize that they had indeed gotten to the cousin's building. By the time he exited the cruiser, Kate had already fixed herself somewhat and was waiting for him so they could head in together.

They went to the cousin's unit but no one answered. Her neighbor was just leaving though, and said that she would be back soon. "We'll just wait then," Kate told the neighbor.

"Come on, I've got an idea what we can do while waiting," Rick said, dragging her by the wrist to head back downstairs and out. He dragged her into the coffee shop across the street despite her protests and questions. "Just go with it, Kate, you wont regret it," he told her, walking up to the counter and buying a bunch of honey sticks.

Handing the guy five dollars, Rick asked if there was a washroom they could use since they were waiting for a friend to return across the street but his girlfriend really needed to use the washroom.

The place was pretty empty at this time of the day. The young guy handling the cashier just pointed Rick in the direction of the washroom and went back to his work, stacking up the cookies in the jar with a bored look on his face.

Kate was halfway mortified as Rick's so called plan became clear to her. "Rick, we are _not_ having a quickie in the middle of the day while I'm on the job!" she whispered furiously.

"Come on, Kate. What better way to wait out our suspect? Share some of your _excitement_ with me, won't you?" He teased her in a low voice, throwing the term in her face.

Rolling her eyes, Kate mumbled, "Oh shut up," as she dragged him in with her and locked the door. Rick had the final say, telling her "I think _you're_ the one who should be worried about keeping your voice down."

Suffice to say there weren't any more talking going on after that.

* * *

A/N: Please review! :)


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: 2 chapters in a day? I'm still riding on the high from the 100th episode and just couldn't resist ;D

Disclaimer: not mine

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

Rick and Kate were breathing heavily, basking in their afterglow when the pounding on the door sounded. "Hey, you guys better get out and leave soon. This is a public area, so don't make me call the cops. You have a minute."

On the other side of the door, Rick and Kate burst into tired laughter. "Think we should tell him you're the cop? Save him the trouble of making the phone call," he asked, pulling his pants back into place.

"Let's just get out of here before we get arrested," Kate chuckled, fixing her clothes and hair.

They ducked their heads and quietly snuck out of the coffee shop as quickly as humanly possible. Laughing, they ran across the street and headed over to see if their suspect was back.

"Lose the 'I just had a quickie' vibe, Rick," Kate told him, raising her hand to knock on the door.

"I will when you lose your 'I just got laid' vibe," he shot back right before the door swung open.

"Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. We've got a few questions for you," she said, poker face firmly in place, raising her badge.

* * *

They brought the suspect back to the precinct in the back of Kate's cruiser and deposited her in the interrogation room. "She's all yours, let's wrap this case boys," Kate told Ryan and Esposito as they did the 'feed the birds' gesture with Rick in greeting.

"Did the suspect give you a hard time or something?" Ryan asked as they were walking over.

"No, why?" Kate asked, standing under the threshold of the door for the observation room.

"Nothing, you guys just looked like you had a workout chasing down the cousin or something," Esposito replied, opening the door to the interrogation room. Both Kate and Rick fought to keep their faces blank as the other detectives entered the other door.

Alone in the observation room, Kate leaned against his side. "Oh god, we're terrible."

"Yeah," he agreed whole-heartedly, "at this rate they'll find out before the week is up."

"Find out what?" the stern voice of Victoria Gates floated over from the doorway. Kate and Rick sprung apart like a couple of teenagers caught making out behind the bleachers.

"Err," Kate stalled and Rick jumped into the rescue. "They'd find out that we're uh, trying to let them handle all the interrogations so we could just watch from here," Rick supplied.

The captain just fixed them with a stare before making a sound in the back of her throat so that they would know she wasn't exactly buying their story. "Anyway, I'm here to check on the progress of the case. How is it going, Beckett?" she asked, walking over so she could see into the room through the window.

Kate filled her in on what Lanie had found, and explained the link about the cousin's job. The captain nodded dismissively when Kate was done; focusing on what her other two detectives were doing in the interrogation room instead. Kate and Rick settled to watch as well, but mindful of keeping their distance with the captain in the room.

The cousin was surprisingly difficult to crack, so the two detectives left the room after letting her know the options and giving her a chance to think about the offer for a while. They joined the others in the observation room as they tried to formulate a plan as to how they could prove it was the cousin and wrap this case up nicely.

Captain Gates put in her two cents, and left to check on her other detectives. "Why don't you take it from here, Beckett?" Esposito suggested. If she was slightly curious Beckett hid it well.

"Okay," she told them, standing up and collecting the file.

Castle made to leave with her, but Ryan shot out his hand, stopping the other man. "Why don't you stay with us, Castle?" he suggested.

"Yeah, let Beckett take point on this alone," Esposito supplied.

"Oh, sure," he said, making a move to settle back against the table after he shot a look to Beckett. It would be fine, the boys wouldn't know or suspect anything. Beckett shot the boys a suspicious look but slowly left the room nonetheless.

"Times up," Beckett announced as she entered the interrogation room. She walked over to the table where their suspect had shot straight up, but remained silent still. Fine, the hard way it is then.

As Beckett began building her case, painting out the scenario to their suspect, the other two detectives sandwiched Castle in the observation room.

"You and Beckett seem to be pretty cozy recently," Esposito started.

"Yeah, anything you'd like to share with the class?" Ryan quipped.

"You wouldn't keep anything from your boys now, would you?" Esposito pressed.

"Err, I'm not really sure what- what you're going on about," Castle hedged, clearing his throat uncomfortably.

"Oh I don't know, you're spending more time together,"

"She seems to be in a happier mood in general,"

"_You_ seem to be in a happier mood in general,"

"Beckett's been wearing clothes that cover up more than usual,"

"She's always off disappearing somewhere,"

"With you,"

"And today,"

"Today you come back looking like that, reeking with..."

"You know," Esposito supplied, giving him a _look_.

"Wow, you guys tag team pretty well, have you been practicing? Is that what it's like, listening to someone else finish each others' sentences," he changed the topic, deflecting.

"Don't change the topic, Castle," Ryan pressed.

"Hey what do you know, Beckett broke the cousin!" Castle exclaims, making a beeline out of the observation room to meet with Beckett.

That was a close one!

* * *

"You okay?" She asks under her breath as Castle joined her, looking around nervously.

"The boys may be onto something. They tag teamed and tried to grill me in the observation room just now," he told her, barely moving his lips, smiling as they passed another officer.

"About us?" Beckett shot back.

"No, about my secret alter ego. Yes about us!" he hissed, dragging her into the break room. She stumbled in with him, caught off guard by the sudden changing direction of their course.

"You know that this here is just adding fuel to the flames right?" she said wryly, not as fazed as her overly dramatic boyfriend.

"Kate," he sang, whining just a little as he looked around furtively, "they're coming after me, and if you want us to remain a secret, like _you _wanted all along, you need to–"

"Need to what?" Ryan quipped from the other door of the break room, Esposito by his side looking on.

"Need to mind your own damn business," Beckett stated, not missing a beat. "You boys giving Castle a hard time?"

"What?" "No way!" They protested vehemently. "Tattle tale," Esposito muttered accusatively, shooting Castle a dirty look.

"Lay off, boys, or he'll go tattling to the mayor next," Beckett said saucily, walking out of the break room and dropping her head forward so that her hair fanned to the front, covering her smirk.

"Hey!" Castle protested as the boys snickered, but they left him alone for a while at least.

Kate sent a text to Lanie, asking if they could meet up that night since the case was closed. Lanie replied back quickly, saying she didn't have plans so tonight would be perfect.

Beckett quickly processed the paperwork and relevant stuffs, and as soon as five o'clock came around, she was packing her belongings. "Somewhere to be?" Castle asked, seeing her so eager to get out of there.

"Got plans tonight," Beckett announced a little loudly, and immediately the other two detectives perked up, paying attention.

"Oh?" He asked curiously.

"You don't have to know everything, Castle. That's why it's a private life, I don't live it out on Page Six," Beckett stage whispered the last part sassily, walking out of the precinct.

* * *

Hours later, the two women were lounging on Kate's couch, each holding their glass of wine as Kate recounted her day. "You should have seen his face, Lanie, he was just so shocked that I made plans that don't involve him _and_ didn't tell him about it."

Both women chuckled and took sips of their wine. Arriana had been put to bed half an hour ago and the two best friends were all alone in the living room.

"Did you tell him in the end though? I can't imagine writer boy not letting his curiosity get the better of him. He must've bugged you for hours!"

"Yeah, I finally sent him a text about an hour ago to put him out of his misery," Kate admitted.

"Okay, so, I want the details girl! None of your cliff notes version. Give me the full story, how'd you two finally end up together?" Lanie prompted.

"Well, it started with Arriana getting the chicken pox, and I had to bring her home and look after her because my dad was away. Anyway, Castle being Castle just came over here, and so he met her, and helped me with her."

Lanie listened attentively as her best friend recounted how she finally ended up with her partner after years of stubbornness and misery on account of both parties. Caught up to date at last, the medical examiner asked, "So? Anything interesting happened so far? How many dates have you two been on?"

"Not that many, actually. We're both busy with the job and the kids and trying to keep it quiet so we mostly just hang out either at his place or mine, except for our one-month anniversary. I'm not going to forget that night in a long time," Kate told her with a smirk.

"Details!" Lanie pushed her.

"You know I don't like to kiss and tell," Kate told her friend, "but it was amazing and quite romantic, although we didn't really leave our room all that much the next few days."

"The next few days? Girl, what are you not telling me?!"

"Only that it was one of the most amazing days I've had," Kate replied, keeping the details a secret.

"But anyway, I've got a good one," she continued, making up for withholding information from her best friend. "The other day, I can't remember exactly when, Arriana told me we should move into the castle with Castle so we could be princesses or something."

Lanie snorted and almost choked on her wine. Recovering, she asked, "Your daughter told you what?! Did writer boy put her up to it? Oh he so totally wants you to move in!"

"I don't know, Lanes! Apparently Arri says that Castle told her since his name was Castle, he lives in one too, or something. I don't know if that's just Rick Castle talking, or if he's trying to get my kid to want to move over. It kinda slipped my mind, but it's all so fast, don't you think?

"I mean, sure, we go over there and spend time at the loft, but we've never actually stayed overnight there! Like, it would be a really big adjustment! Especially for Arri, right? I mean, she's a kid, and she needs stability, and wipe that smirk off your face," Kate told her best friend, poking Lanie with her toe.

"Did you talk to writer boy about this? I mean, if you're putting so much thought and consideration into it already, don't you want to at least know if you're on the same page, _before_ you kill your brain cells thinking about this and that?" she teased.

"But if you ask me, the two of you should just move in together already! I've never seen you so happy in such a long time, if ever, Kate. And if writer boy is responsible for all this, I say you should spend more time with him, it does you good. I'm really happy for you, Kate."

"Thanks, Lanes, I'm happy too, but slow your horses won't you. We are _ages_ away from moving in together. Right? I mean, it's just too fast," Kate reasoned.

Shrugging, Lanie told her, "If you say so," in a singsong voice.

"But how do I even bring it up? What if the conversation he had with Arri really was innocent and he thinks _I_ want to move in? What if he really ends up asking me to move in instead?" Kate moaned. The wine and her brain beginning to go into overdrive was most definitely not a good combination.

"Oh don't be such a wuss, just ask him what he meant when he talked to Arriana, and go from there. And if he does end up asking you to move in, then the two of you can discuss and work that out slowly," Lanie advised.

Kate just groaned and took a long sip of her wine. "Anyway, how are things with you and Esposito? Is there even a thing back on, or what?" she asked, time to turn the tables – she's done enough talking for the night.

"It's complicated," Lanie hedged, "we're not back on, but the occasional booty call seems to be working fine for the both of us. I met some other guys, but nothing serious."

The rest of the night was spent with Lanie doing most of the talking. At twenty past eleven, a knock sounded on Kate's front door. "That's my cue to leave," Lanie told her as they walked over to the door.

"What?" Kate asked her friend.

"Open the door, you'll know," she replied with a knowing smile.

Kate checked the peephole nonetheless; she was still a cop after all, before opening the door with a smile on her face. Her boyfriend stood there, smiling back. "Lanie sent me a text, saying she was done with you about half an hour ago," he explained, greeting her with a soft kiss.

Kate hugged him as they broke the kiss, comfortable in sharing her personal space with him. "Aww, look at the two of you. Thank you for your girlfriend, I am now returning her in one piece," Lanie said to the writer.

"Anytime, oh and I paid my cabbie extra to wait downstairs for ten minutes, if you need the ride home," he offered.

"Always the gentleman, Mr Castle, thank you. He's a keeper, Kate," she replied, giving Kate a quick hug before bidding the both of them goodnight and heading home herself.

Shutting the door, Kate asked him, "Worried that I wasn't actually spending time with Lanie?"

"What? No way, have you seen me? Besides, I don't want to steal all your personal time, I know you need some girl time. Besides, absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? So how was it? Did you tell her how awesome we are?" he asked excitedly.

"Your ego doesn't need any more stroking, Rick Castle."

"Something else you wanna stroke?" he shot back immediately, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at her.

"Really? Is that all you think about?" Kate asked, pausing in her tracks and arching an eyebrow at him.

"It was just there, I _had_ to take it. Besides, can you blame me? Have you seen my girlfriend? She's like this hot, super sexy– "

"Save it. Let's go to bed," she cut him off, giving him a long, hard kiss, ensuring he stopped babbling on and on when they had better things to do anyway.

* * *

Much later when they were just laying in bed, Kate ventured. "Hey Rick, Arri mentioned that you told her you live in a castle."

"Yeah, I think I may have said something like that, something to do with my name being Castle and all. Alexis was the one who came up with it actually, when she was still a small girl. Why, what did Arriana say?"

"Are you trying out some mind game kind of thing?"

"What? Mind game? No," he protested. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't laugh at me, okay, but she mentioned something about being princesses and moving in to stay in the castle, and I don't know if you're trying to insinuate something, or not, or-"

"Kate, Kate, you've got to stop rambling. When I said that to her, it was purely innocent, okay? But since you're thinking about a different context, should we, I mean, do you want to talk about it? Like moving in?" he asked hesitantly.

"I don't want to, but Lanie says I should. I don't know, what do you think?" she answered his question with a question of her own.

"Well," he started slowly, "I wouldn't mind if you and Arriana were to move into the loft, there's room, and space, and I could easily clear my closet to fit your five hundred jackets," he teased, trying to keep the mood light.

"But I know that you might feel it's moving a little too fast, which is why I didn't want to bring it up just yet. But, maybe someday down the road?" he asked her, nudging to get a response out of his girlfriend.

However, she just made a soft sound that didn't really relay much, so he continued, "You want to put a pin, and maybe we can revisit this topic sometime in the future? Like maybe a few months from now?"

Nodding against him, she murmured, "Yeah, I think that would be nice."

"Okay then, this conversation has officially been pinned away. Now, can you sleep peacefully at night?"

Kate nodded once more, looking up at him with a smile and leaning to give him a soft kiss. Somehow he always knew just what she needed. At times it felt like he knew her and could anticipate her better than she could. He dropped one last kiss on the top of her head before they snuggled to settle in for the night.

* * *

A/N: *SO* close to the end of this story already. Please review :)


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: I'm really touched that some of you guys don't want the story to end, however, I did have things all planned out already, and all good things must come to an end, right? :) So this is it guys, I've only got the epilogue left after this chapter. Here's your last chance to leave a review so i can mention you in the shoutout for the epilogue. It's been an amazing journey, and i hope you guys enjoy this.. i've tried to tie up all the loose ends into a nice little package :)

Disclaimer: Not mine

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

The days flew by and molded into weeks, which melted along slowly. The two of them tried to be careful, so as not to raise the suspicion of others, but neither of them actually thought they managed to fool their friends all that well.

However, Ryan and Esposito had never actually caught them in a compromising position, nor had they come out and asked them point blank if they were together, so Beckett and Castle just continued on, trying to go by the 'ignorance is bliss' route.

Thankfully the paparazzi hadn't caught wind of Rick's new relationship status, or if they were suspicious, he and Paula were quick to quell the rumors. They killed the stories before the magazines or newspapers could print it. Either way, Kate was happy with the situation, and when Kate was happy, Rick was happy as well.

They hadn't revisited the 'moving in together' topic since that night, but Christmas was coming up soon and Rick had asked her if she wanted to quietly celebrate it together in New York or if she'd prefer him to make arrangements for both their families to go off somewhere quiet, anywhere of her liking, and celebrate Christmas there instead.

However, since she couldn't get that many days off, they decided to celebrate it in New York. Arriana was beside herself with excitement. This was the first time she would be celebrating Christmas with so many people!

The previous years had just been the three Becketts celebrating the holiday together, but this year, Uncle Rick had invited her to his Christmas party, and he was inviting her two new Uncle Javi and Uncle Kevin, along with Aunt Lanie as well. Captain Gates might even be there!

Kate was a little hesitant about throwing a Christmas party together with Rick for their friends, but Castle reassured her, saying he'll tell them it was his party, and that the Becketts were there as guests as well.

* * *

As the snow began piling in New York City, so did the number of cases the homicide detectives received. All they could hope for was a respite at Christmas and hopefully New Years too.

The team had split into two, with Beckett and Castle chasing down their own suspects while Ryan and Esposito tried to close their respective cases as well. They had to divide and conquer if they wanted to be free by Christmas.

However, the days leading directly up to Christmas were mainly Castle-void. The famous author had received multiple invitations to Christmas parties thrown by the various circles of New York's elite. It seemed that Paula also thought that the Christmas season was perfect for promoting his books.

So while Kate was busy in the precinct from day to night, Castle spent his days doing book readings and signings for the special Christmas Editions of some of his bestsellers whereas his evenings were spent at galas and soirées.

Hence, they unfortunately saw very little of each other. So, when Castle suddenly found himself with a block of free time, he decided to pop into the precinct, buying a cup of coffee for the detective he hardly saw anymore these past few days.

Beckett's face lit up when she saw him walking toward her with coffee in tow. "Hey stranger," she greeted, taking the coffee from him.

"Hey back at you. God, it feels like I haven't seen you in weeks or something even though its only been what, four days?" he asked.

"Something like that," she replied, taking a sip of her coffee. Pausing, she took another sip. Hmm, there was something different. Castle was looking at her expectantly.

"So? You like it? I know its not your regular order, but I decided to try something more festive," he explained.

"Yeah, I like the hint of cinnamon, very Christmas-y," she agreed.

"So, busy day?" he asked, pointing at the papers strewn on her table.

"Oh, not really. I closed the case an hour ago, just writing the report now."

"Cool, I'll go check in on the boys," he told her, making a move so she could get back to work.

The boys greeted him with slaps on the back, and they chatted for a bit, with Esposito and Ryan filling him on their more interesting cases the past few days while he was gone. "Christmas is a time for celebration man, not murder," Esposito punctuated.

Suddenly, the phone on Ryan's table began ringing. "Don't let it be a body drop, just don't let it be a body drop," Esposito began chanting as Ryan answered the phone. Hanging up, the Irish detective told his partner, "Body drop."

Esposito groaned as they put on their coats, leaving to check out the murder scene. "Good luck," Castle called out as they headed to the escalator. The boys raised their hand at him in response as Castle turned to head back to Beckett's desk.

He settled into his chair, content to watch the female detective write up her reports. She looked up to share a small smile with him, before turning her eyes back to the paper. Castle looked around the bullpen, seeing only a few detectives left. Most of them who were celebrating out of town must've begun their Christmas leave already, since tomorrow would be Christmas Eve.

Turning his head to gaze into the break room, a thought came into his mind. "Come on, Beckett. Time to take a break," he told her, standing up. She stopped her writing but did not stand, giving him a questioning look instead.

He smiled, and gesturing with his head for her to follow him, Castle started walking toward the break room. Kate obliged, since she had hardly seen him at all the past few days. Putting down her pen, Kate stood up and followed him into the break room.

He walked inside and looked back at her until she joined him by his side. "I'm here, Castle, what do you want?"

Pointing up, he told her innocently, "Oh nothing, detective, but it looks to me that we're standing underneath a mistletoe."

She grinned, telling him, "Castle, we're at the _precinct_."

"But tradition dictates that you have to kiss under the mistletoe. Whoever hung it up there did it having full knowledge of this, despite it being a precinct. I'm just trying to uphold tradition here, detective," he reasoned.

"Really?" Beckett surveyed their surroundings, and seeing that there weren't really anyone else around, stepped closer to him and continued, "Well then, I guess we'll just have to follow tradition."

He nodded, smiling at her and pulling her in for a kiss.

"Aha! I knew it!"

Beckett and Castle jumped apart and looked at the source of the outcry. Esposito and Ryan stood in the doorway, gleefully looking in.

"We were just… the mistletoe, and tradition…" Castle supplied.

"Save it, we know you're together," Ryan accused.

The couple looked at each other, busted by their friends, caught red handed with their hands in the cookie jar so to speak. Shrugging, Beckett decided it was about time to come clean anyway. "So? Took you guys long enough."

"We knew since a month ago," Esposito retorted, looking at Ryan expectantly. The Irish detective reluctantly pulled out a twenty and passed it to his partner.

Castle interjected, "But we've been together almost three months now. Some detectives you guys are."

"Aha!" Ryan exclaimed gleefully at his partner, gloating, "I _knew _they've been together for at least two months. Pay up, bro." Esposito sullenly handed back the twenty Ryan gave him, and added another twenty note into the outstretched palm of his partner.

Watching the exchange with an amused expression, Castle suddenly said, "Wait, I thought you guys had a body drop."

"Nah," Esposito explained, "Ryan made that up, it was just the ballistics report for our case. We pretended like it was a body drop so we could leave."

"And knowing that the both of you haven't seen each other in days," Ryan interrupted, "it was the perfect cover for us to catch you two sneaking off and settle our bet once and for all."

"Sneaky. But we're trying to keep things quiet, so if you boys don't mind," Beckett told her friends, "We'd like to keep it from the captain, since the NYPD has the whole no dating policy."

"Too late, detective," Captain Gates said from the other doorway leading into the break room. "The two of you weren't fooling anyone trying to hide your relationship. I knew at least ten weeks ago."

All four of them stared flabbergasted at the captain who continued walking into the room, heading over to the coffee machine.

"Err, why didn't you say anything, sir?" Beckett asked, bewildered. It wasn't like their by-the-book captain to bend the rules, or in this case, ignore the rules outright.

"Two reasons. One, since Mr. Castle isn't technically a member of the NYPD, the policy doesn't apply to him. However, that policy is there for a reason, Beckett. So I expect you to still be able to keep your head when you get into difficult situations with your partner? Otherwise, Mr. Castle would have to stop consulting."

Beckett gave two quick nods at the captains' question. The captain gave one small nod in acknowledgement, and continued, "Secondly, your work performance hasn't been affected, so I don't see the harm, so long as your closure rate doesn't start slipping."

"Thank you, sir," Beckett said belatedly, realizing that the four of them had remained silent even though their captain had finished speaking. Her head was reeling. One of the other reasons Kate didn't want to go public with their relationship was because she was afraid that Captain Gates would end their partnership upon finding out their new relationship status.

So within those five minutes, their close friends essentially knew about their relationship, and so did the captain, yet there wouldn't be any serious repercussions. All in all, this was possibly one of the best-case scenarios for Castle and Beckett, and all before Christmas too! Now they could celebrate Christmas without trying to hide their feelings for each other.

Things seem to be brightening up in time for Christmas after all!

The captain had finished making her coffee, and was leaving the break room with her steaming cup when she called back to her detectives, "Don't you guys have work to do?"

The four of them scattered out of the break room and scrambled to their desks, mumbling replies under their breath. Sitting in their respective seats by Beckett's desk, Castle asked her, "That went pretty well, could have gone much worse, right?"

"Mmhmm, I'd say it was a Christmas present for us," she told him, reaching for his hand.

"I didn't know you were such a romantic, but yeah, I'd say that could be our Christmas miracle," Castle agreed, and Beckett leaned in to share a chaste kiss with him out in public for the very first time in the precinct.

* * *

The Becketts and Castles and a Roger got together for Christmas Eve dinner at the loft. After dinner Jim put the presents he bought under the sparkly Christmas tree and went off. Martha too, went out shortly thereafter, attending another party thrown by one of her friends.

The four of them remained in the loft. Kate and Arriana were staying over, since she had the day off, and Arriana wanted to open her presents first thing in the morning with Alexis. The teen had kindly offered to share her bed with the little girl much to the adults' relief.

Gathering around the Christmas tree, Rick announced, "Okay! Time for a Castle tradition. Everybody gets to pick one present to open on Christmas Eve. Just one, though, the rest will have to wait until tomorrow."

Arriana cheered in delight, digging to see which were her presents under the tree. "Here, you should open this one then. It's not really wrapped though," Kate offered a paper bag to Rick. Taking it from her, he opened it and pulled out a Santa Hat. Putting it on, he jokingly told her, "Wow Kate, you sure pick great presents."

"You'll get to see part two tonight," she spoke softly into his ear, but it must have not been soft enough, since Alexis' cheeks had turned red. The teen steadfastly began unwrapping her present, trying to pretend she hadn't accidentally eavesdrop.

"I can't wait," Rick murmured to her, dropping a kiss on her lips. "Here, I want you to open mine," he continued, handing her a small box. Thankfully, the rectangular box wasn't the size to hold a ring, so Kate wouldn't have to worry about him proposing to her just yet.

Things were going at just the right pace, and Kate didn't want any unexpected surprises just yet. Opening the box, she was greeted by the sight of a shiny key, attached to a key chain that was a silhouette of a castle. "Rick?" she breathed.

"I know we agreed to pin away moving in together, but this isn't that. It's a key for you, so that you can come over any time you want. I want you to know that you're welcomed here whenever you feel like it, Kate," he explained.

"Thank you, Rick. It really means a lot to me," she managed to say to him before her emotions made her choke up just a little.

"Mommy look what Lexie got me!" Arriana proudly held up a face-painting palette, complete with twelve colors and some brushes.

"Come here," Alexis waved Arriana over. "Check this out," the teen took the palette and slid it, revealing a bottom layer that consisted of different colored glitter.

Arriana jumped up and down, ecstatic over the hidden bottom. When she calmed down a little, she hugged Alexis tightly, thanking her over and over again for the coolest gift a five year-old could receive. The rest of them laughed happily watching on at how a little girl could get so overjoyed over something as simple as face paint.

Alexis finally opened her present, and was delighted to find a blue scarf that Arriana had picked out for her. "To match your pretty eyes," Arriana explained.

"Okay, bedtime for you," Kate told her daughter. "The sooner you sleep, the sooner Santa can come over with your presents, and the sooner Christmas morning will arrive."

They clambered up the stairs and soon enough Arriana was all showered and settled in bed with Alexis. Giving both girls goodnight kisses, Kate and Rick finally withdrew to his bedroom.

After Rick got ready for bed, Kate went into the bathroom with her overnight bag, keeping to her promise of the second part to his Christmas present. After a while, she emerged in a sexy Santa's Helper outfit, complete with white fur trimmings on the edges of the red lingerie.

Needless to say Rick thoroughly enjoyed unwrapping his Christmas present.

* * *

The rest of the Christmas presents were opened on Christmas morning, and after a splendid Christmas brunch, they got ready for the party that night. All their close friends were there, and the party was a success.

Now that they were no longer hiding their relationship from their friends, Rick took every opportunity he could to kiss Kate, hanging up additional mistletoes in his loft. All in all, their first Christmas together was a smash.

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A/N: So this was how I envisioned their first Christmas to be instead.. hope you guys liked it. Epilogue will be up real soon. Have i mentioned how epically amazing you guys have been? Please review! :)


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: You're here! If you've stuck around long enough to reach this point, thank you so much for reading my story :) This is my first novel length work on fanfiction and you guys have been so kind and amazing... I can feel the nostalgia kicking in already - I'm gonna miss this whole process.

Shoutout! in no order whatsoever, i'd like to thank these amazing people for their constant support and wonderful reviews :) so thank you 03Truth21, 16abennett, AshLiz, hug-me, JayjayNicolaB, jennylovescastle, jnryan93, Jorja07, Katherine41319, nmcowgirl, phnxgrl, KB4RC, red2013, ritika, SaraLovesCastle, Slm93, Thomatshu, ShannonJethreGideonCastleSnape, PrincessLille, UpA11Night, J, Jessdance34, and all the guests who reviewed anonymously.

Oh and one more thing, someone(ritika, if i'm not mistaken) asked me why I named this Second Chance.. I think it's because I felt after all the missed opportunities for Caskett throughout the show, Arriana's presence gave them a reason to get close and give them the possibility of a relationship, sorta like a second chance for them :) I hope that makes sense... I really hate picking titles... I'm just terrible at it. Honestly speaking I was crapping through the previous explanation ;p It's the first time I had to sit down and properly try to justify the reasoning behind the title. lol.

Disclaimer: Not mine

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**Epilogue**

Shortly after their six months anniversary, Rick asked Kate to move in with him. After revisiting the topic numerous times within those few days, Kate and Arriana were officially moving into the loft.

They packed their things and had the movers bring it over, and since Rick took care of most things, it was mainly quiet and hassle-free. It took two weeks before they finally put everything away in their new home. The two girls were even closer than ever, bonding with the sister they've never had. Arriana had a room of her own, and Rick couldn't wait to help her start redecorating.

Unfortunately, a week into settling in their new home, Rick was off for a book tour. He was busy promoting the latest Nikki Heat book, creating hype for the launch in a few months. He was hitting more than thirty cities, and would be gone for about a month and a half. Kate however, was stuck at work in New York

Sometime during all this, the press got wind that Kate was staying at the loft, and the rumor mill went crazy. Rick tried to shield her from most of it, but even Paula was _this_ close to going crazy answering calls and deflecting questions.

However, Rick being away on a book tour seemed to be a sort of blessing in disguise. They had to go to him to answer their questions, since Kate promptly threatened them all with obstruction of an investigation when they tried following her around and getting her to answer their questions.

* * *

Castle was now in his last city, Washington, for the final leg of his book tour, and he would be home in a few days. They spoke on the phone every night, but Kate was seriously beginning to miss her boyfriend and couldn't wait to see him.

Being spontaneous in the spur of a moment, Kate took a few days off of work. She contacted Paula and made arrangements to meet him in Washington, plotting to keep it from Rick. She wanted to surprise him.

Her plans went without a hitch, and soon enough she was walking into a quaint bookstore where Rick was reading an excerpt from the new book. She hung in the back, not wanting him to see her just yet.

Then, he had an autograph session. Kate eagerly waited in line with the other fans, holding her copy of the previous Nikki Heat book. When she got to his table, he took the book and asked automatically, "To whom should I make it out?" as he flipped open the cover page.

However, seeing the message he had already written inside for Kate, he looked up in shock, face splitting into a great big grin upon seeing his girlfriend. "Surprise," she greeted, leaning forward to catch his mouth in a kiss. The fans in line went crazy with excitement, snapping pictures from their camera phones as author and muse made out in front of them.

Breaking the kiss, Kate chuckled, "So I guess they've just confirmed we're together now."

The End.

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A/N: That's it guys! I think this is a pretty good place to stop.. I'd love to explore this story line more, but I guess it'll be sometime in the future, depending on if you guys want more too. Plus I'd have to come up with something really amazing that would do the characters justice in my opinion... Thank you so much for reading, and for the very last time, I'm gonna plead you guys to review - let me know what you think of my story in general, what were your favourite parts, what you disliked, anything at all, really :) I'd really love to hear from each and everyone of you at least one last time...

If you liked this story, do recommend or share it with your friends :)

I love writing - I think I may start to become addicted ;p - but I really gotta concentrate on my studies for a bit, so unfortunately I don't think I'll be posting anything new soon... Anything long-ish anyway. But I love writing, so I shall be back. :) In the meantime, I've got a one-shot called _I remember,_ and you guys can check that out if you haven't yet and leave a review :)

You guys have seriously been phenomenally amazing readers. Thank you for all the things you've brought up - in my opinion they've really helped me in my growth as a writer.

Don't be shy to PM me with prompts or requests, if things work out fine timing-wise etc, i'd really like to try that out as well :D

For the last time(for reals this time), Thank you, I Love you, Review! :')


	30. Sneak Peak for Sequel

A/N: I present, the teaser for the sequel to Second Chance :) Thanks for your patience and encouragement. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Still ain't mine…

* * *

Twenty months.

Kate Beckett couldn't stop the smile gracing her face if her life depended on it. She couldn't believe that it has been twenty months since she said yes to her partner. Twenty months since she became Rick Castle's girlfriend.

Looking at the man lying peacefully on _her_ pillow, Kate couldn't help but bite her lower lip in an attempt to stop the Cheshire grin from erupting. Sure, Rick was asleep, but she couldn't afford letting him catch her smiling like a love struck teen. No sir, she wasn't chancing it – not since he's called her out on becoming sappy.

And the worst part was he was _right_. She could _feel_ herself becoming sappy. Aren't things supposed to start cooling down a little between them? She still wakes up with a big goofy smile every morning for no reason. No, that wasn't right. There _was_ a reason for waking up like she felt on the top of the world every morning, and that reason was Richard Castle.

Kate internally scoffed at herself. _Seriously girl, how much more sappy can you get?_

But those thoughts didn't stop her from brushing back his hair lightly before she placed a kiss on his forehead. Pushing up on her palms, Kate lifted her body and clambered over his body to get to his side of the bed.

Her man-child was big on cuddling – okay fine, they were _both_ big on cuddling now that Rick has converted her, but it was ridiculous how he ends up on her pillow most of the time. Normally she doesn't mind it, but then there are days such as this very morning when his body heat was a little too much; bordering on stifling.

Flopping onto his cool pillow, Kate checked the time. Okay, she could afford to laze in bed for another twenty minutes before her alarm went off. Her mind was alert, so going back to sleep wasn't an option.

Arriana had Show and Tell in school today, so they would drop by and do that before heading to the precinct. Kate hoped the paparazzi would leave them alone today. They were mostly happy to leave the duo alone most of the time, but the paparazzi loved to hound them whenever their little family were all together.

Apparently all you need to do is factor in some children to get their attention. In this case, Arriana to the paparazzi was like a rasher of bacon to hungry dogs. Kate frowned at the metaphor, not liking the fact that her brain had just compared her own daughter to bacon.

This invasion of their privacy was a frequent topic of discussion between the couple. Kate knows Rick wasn't at fault here; and she knows and appreciates that he tries to keep them out of the press as much as possible, but that doesn't mean that she has come to like it. It was, at it's very best, mildly tolerable.

They weren't normally newsworthy unless Rick has to do promotion for his books or events. In that case, the paparazzi would follow them around for a week or so, before moving on to other people. Hence Kate grudgingly admits that she has to bear half the responsibility this time.

Because this time round, they had become "newsworthy" because the lovebirds have just gotten back from their honeymoon.

Did she forget to mention that?

* * *

A/N: This is only the first part of chapter one. Head over to my profile and check out _Third Time's the Charm_ for the full chapter. Don't forget to leave a review! :) Ps. I've recently gotten twitter, so you can add me at amandaOtweets for updates etc. It's set to private, so PM me to approve your request if I haven't done so.


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